Tuesday 16 June 2015

Marsh Warbler at Narborough in Norfolk


This bird has been present for a few days now close to the village of Narborough in Norfolk. It has taken up residence in a reed bed mixed with nettles and other weeds with surrounding alder and elder bushes and so on Sunday myself and Mike Weedon paid a visit to catch up with this noted songster.

On arrival the bird was singing out of view and sounded like a Reed Warbler, not very exciting we both thought, but as the bird warmed up he started mimicking other birds, most notably Blackbird, Marsh Tit, Goldfinch, Swallow, Nuthatch and the call of a Chiffchaff. This was mostly done out of view, but occasionally the bird would give tantalising glimpses and on a couple of occasions perched in full view, but others at the twitch considered themselves to be more important than the rest of us and barged me out of the way in order to obtain 'the' photograph they so desired. I am afraid that you, dear reader are left with these glimpses.




22 comments:

  1. Cute captures of the Marsh Warbler.

    ReplyDelete
  2. More often heard than seen. Well done John.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most definitely Frank, that's what happened on this occasion!
      J

      Delete
  3. I've been following reports of this bird for some days. I'm glad you got to see it and the images you got are great. It's a shame that others don't have the same respect for others as you do. I come across them too and it's very annoying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Adam! Very annoying is an understatement, I almost walked away, I have at other places.
      J

      Delete
  4. Hi john. You were more of a gentleman than the pushers! It was lovely that you saw this unusual bird for here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for calling me a gentleman Margaret! A good bird, that is still thrilling visitors.
      J

      Delete
  5. Well done John, another good tick in the book.
    You know me, I would have called it a Whitethroat.{:))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Roy! I only knew what it was because of Birdguides, not my expert identification skills! ;)
      J

      Delete
  6. Nice looking bird John.
    Reminds me of a Reed Warbler, and I'd probably would have walked past it.
    Some 'twitchers' are real gentleman aren't they.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Keith. Very similar to a Reed Warbler, the same family of 'Acro' warblers, a very different song though.
      J

      Delete
  7. He's just wonderful "none-the-less!" I like the habitat view.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It was definitely doing its best to hide from you John.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A very frustrating few hours were spent trying to get better views, but they eluded us!
      J

      Delete
  9. He has disguised himself well among the the reeds! I love the idea of all that mimicry. I wonder what evolutionary purpose it serves?
    CLICK HERE for Bazza’s fabulous Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bazza! Yes, he hid well. I don't really know why they mimic, a lot of birds do, I think that it is something to do with showing a potential mate what a good breeder you would be. The more songs you can mimic, the better father you would be!?
      J

      Delete
  10. What a sweet little bird!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment on my humble blog.