A Visit to Amwell for all things Reedy

3rd June 2015

A couple of hours to spare, the rain had stopped, the sun had come out so off to Amwell to see what was happening in the James Hide. As I opened the flap all seemed to be quiet with only a single male Tufted Duck sitting quietly on the water in front of the hide. These are late breeders and therefore the female was probably on eggs nearby.

I was then alerted to some ripples emanating from the edge of the reeds some way out. A quick look through the bins revealed an adult Water Rail moving around, mostly hidden by the vegetation. I lifted my camera in case it broke cover enabling a shot. It did indeed break cover but not quite as I had hoped for as, instead of walking calmly from the reeds, it flew at top speed across the pool and dived into the reeds at the other side. I said "bother".

However, at that point I was distracted by a couple of Reed Warblers either feeding young in the nest or around the nest. Luckily they would occasionally shin up a reed allowing a few shots to be taken

I then made my way to the viewpoint where a Redshank was feeding in the pool in front of the ramp. It had a ring on its right leg which it had probably picked up at Rye Meads.

But the stars of the show today were a male Reed Bunting and one of its off-spring which it was feeding right in front of the gate. Here is the juvenile begging for food. What a cracking pair of posers to finish off the day.