I went down to the reserve at dusk to check tomorrow's work site, and it was a real pleasure to be there on such a calm evening. Lots of birds were singing, including water rail, and there was a pair of shelduck on the mere. I can't remember seeing shelduck on the reserve before; they are pretty infrequent here. Then at 6pm a barn owl floated past, and several snipe flew up from the reeds and rushes as darkness fell. What a great way to end a day spent in the office!
Here's a link to some recordings of water rail: http://www.xeno-canto.org/explore?query=water+rail