A Cetti's Warbler at Fishers Green

2nd November 2022

After a quick walk round the site time to settle down in the Wildlife Discovery Centre, have some lunch, and wait for a Bittern to appear. Not quite so cooperative this time as I had to wait three and a half hours for two sightings, but they were both good and provided some shots. Unfortunately, on the first sighting it was walking away but did show off that amazing camouflage plumage.

The second sighting was better albeit brief.

But the star of the show today was not the enigmatic Bittern, but a Cetti's Warbler. Cetti's Warblers are quite common at Fishers Green and often quite noisy, but I don't recall seeing one at the Discovery Centre before. But today I saw one on a couple of occasions flitting across the water into the reeds but at no time did it call.

Then, about half an hour before I was due to leave I heard a quiet chip-chip low down in the reeds opposite and there it was hanging on to the reed stems about a foot above the water in full view albeit in deep shadow. Luckily the camera settings I had selected for the Bittern were just right and I was able to get a few shots of this most secretive bird.

What a great way to spend a few hours.