Heard But Not Seen

It seems our summer migrants are bringing the warm African weather back with them. What an incredible few days it has been. With the clocks changing and the evenings getting longer there is no excuse not to get out there and get some fresh air and start learning some bird song.

I must admit, by and large, bird song is a bit of a mystery to me. I can identify some garden birds, which is always the best place to start, simply because they usually sing in plain view, but there is one section of birds that are rarely seen, but nearly always heard. These are the Warblers. I am planning on taking sometime this spring and trying to learn a few of these famous songsters’ repertoires.

Our resident and migrant warblers by and large fit in the “little brown job” club, so ID-ing them by sight is quite tricky at times. They also spend a lot of time low in the reed beds, so seeing them at all is quite rare. The two photos accompanying this blog (Reed Warbler and Cetti Warbler) are the only two decent pictures I have managed in three years of visiting Newport Wetlands. One way for sure of knowing they are around is their song.

One of the most common warblers is the Reed Warbler, a plain brown bird that is one of the most vocal in the reed beds. They tend to sing at around daybreak and early evening. Their song is jittery and slow paced and they tend to repeat a phrase two or three times. They are also one of the more visible warblers, perching on reed stems whilst calling for mates or defending territories.

The next warbler that we in Wales are lucky enough to have present in decent numbers is the Cetti Warbler. Pronounced chetty it looks superficially like the Reed Warbler, but a more distinct eye stripe gives it away. It is Britain’s only swamp warbler.  Its song is not dissimilar to the Reed Warbler, but it has a much more explosive delivery, beginning with a couple of short sharp notes.

A scarcer visitor to our area is the Grasshopper Warbler. As the name suggests, its song resembles that of a chirr of a grasshopper. Be warned, this cunning little bird has the ability to “throw its voice” to misdirect would be predators from its nesting sites.

One final warbler to be aware of is the Sedge Warbler. It is another warbler who has a very distinct buff eye stripe, but with a dark crown and cheek feathers that set it off, and distinguish it from the Cetti Warbler. It is another excited singer from the reed beds that can be heard during this early part of spring.

Clicking on all of the links of the above birds will lead you to the RSPB’s excellent bird guide pages, all of which have examples of their bird song. Why not spend a little time listening and learning. All of these birds will probably be present at your local patch or nature reserve, but you may have never seen them. Recognising their presence may just give you a sighting of these elusive little birds.

Fortunately, not all of the warblers are so secretive when they come to singing. Some like to put it out there from the highest perch. I will be turning my attention to these show offs in Fridays blog.