Aquatic Warbler

 

What to do, an Aquatic Warbler reported just a few miles from home. It would be a life tick but it meant facing up to another twitch and I knew I wouldn't like it. Still, a life tick, close to home, I had to go.

I skipped the Sunday hoping that the bird would still be there on the Monday and that there would be less people around. The bird was still present but unfortunately so were the people, a lot of them surrounding a bush that was apparently its favoured spot. About half of them where standing in the long grass, along side the river, which I would imagine was its feeding area. It didn't look promising.

I waited about an hour with the only view being a quick flight from the favoured bush into the long grass further down the river where it stayed for about an hour and a half. It was brown, I would even say light brown and it was warbler size but there was no way I could identify it as an Aquatic Warbler.

Fortunately after the hour and a half wait it emerged and showed well on some of the riverside vegetation before disappearing back into its favoured bush.

Aquatic Warbler

Aquatic Warbler

Not the easiest of places to get a good picture but the bird had shown well and I was confident in elevating my identification from "little brown job" to Aquatic Warbler.

A few years ago I would have joined the throng in trying to get the perfect picture. These days I am happy with the record shot and the chance to move on in search of something else a bit less stressful.