Like most species of crakes and rails, Baillon’s Crake is a denizen of swamps and other wetlands. Although they are rather secretive and skulk about among the vegetation at the margins of these wetlands, sometimes they can be seen dashing across floating aquatic plants. When they run, they have a peculiar crouching posture, but at other times, they walk slowly with their head down and tail held erect and constantly flicked.
Description
The upperparts of a Baillon’s Crake are a rich cinnamon-brown, with black streaks and white spots on the back and wings. They are generally light grey below, with a white belly that has dark barring, which extends onto the undertail. The bill is greenish, as are the legs and feet, while the eye is bright red.
Distribution
Baillon’s Crakes are mostly found in south-eastern and south-western Australia, with records at scattered sites elsewhere throughout the country. The species also occurs in New Zealand, South East Asia, Eurasia and southern Africa.
Habitat
Baillon’s Crakes inhabit vegetated wetlands, usually with fresh or brackish water, including swamps, billabongs, lakes and reservoirs and temporarily inundated areas. They often prefer wetlands with floating aquatic vegetation.
Feeding
While foraging, Baillon’s Crakes pack at insects, crustaceans, snails and other small invertebrates on areas of open mud at the margins of wetlands, among fringing vegetation, or from floating aquatic plants.
Breeding
Five or six pale-brown eggs are usually laid in a shallow cup or platform made from dry rushes, grass or waterweed, placed among tussocks at the margin of the wetland. Both sexes incubate and both guard the young birds.
The cache is NOT at the posted coordinates
This Wherigo converts your player into a virtual version of the "Reverse Cache Box" which tells you the bearing to the cache, but not the distance. You may begin your search from any spot in the world using your Smartphone or Whereigo compatible GPS to navigate to the cache.
**As the cartridge produces whole number degrees, the triangulation is not accurate from long distances especially if the 2 readings are taken close together producing an acute angle at intersection, so don't be disheartened by a GZ that seems wrong, go near there and take more readings.**
The cartridge was created by day1976 and is available to download from the wherigo website. day1976's Open Source Reverse Wherigo .
Start up the player, find and load the cartridge. > NewGame > Find a Geocache > Answer > Enter First Code > xxxxx > Answer > Enter Second Code > xxxxx > Answer > The bearing to this Geocache is xxx degrees. This bearing is from where you are standing. It is now up to you how many times you relocate and obtain different bearings so as to triangulate the cache. The ultimate goal would be to find the cache with just one bearing reading, but for most, it would need a minimum of two bearings. Bearings are with respect to True North, so If using an OS map, allowances will have to be made, as Grid North, Magnetic North, and True North are all different!
To begin, you will have to type these two codes into your player when prompted:
jl3n9
igzzo
It is suggested that you take the code with you on your journey. It will be needed if it becomes necessary to restart your player for any reason.
Have Fun!
How to download the Whereigo Cartridge
You may begin your search from any spot in the world using a Whereigo compatible GPS unit or phone app.
Link to day1976's Open Source Reverse Wherigo cartridge.
Log into wherigo.com using your geocaching.com player name and password. The cartridge type used on phone apps is the Pocket PC Device.