Apologies for the delay. I'm the photographer who was next to you. I've got some photos but they're not brilliant. Email me at collinsphil@hotmail.com and I'll send them to you.
Hi, folks. Good to see all the photos. One clearly shows a bird with a bill that's too long for a SC. I saw the juv W Rail there a few days after and it certainly looks like this bird.
Cheers,
Andy.
I think we can conclude that this was indeed a Water Rail. Some very experienced birders above have ID'd it as such (including seeing the bird themselves), which is certainly good enough for me.
Nice that the bird generated a decent debate though.