A Cetti's Warbler at Amwell

29th February 2016

Nothing on the tele so time for a visit to Amwell on a nice sunny afternoon. Fairly quiet everywhere so thought I would park myself in the James Hide for an hour or so to see what came along. There were the usual suspects coming to the feeders including the compulsory Reed Buntings, so I felt obliged to take at least one shot. At that point a couple of Muntjac emerged from the reed bed and continued to feed as they crossed the ride.

Then there was the "chipping" call of a Cetti's Warbler in the reeds right below the hide. The situation was confused by a Wren that was also making its presence known, but there was definitely something down there but out of sight. Then a movement could be seen but tantalisingly no clear view. This went on for a few minutes as the bird moved backwards and forwards along the outer edge of the reeds. Then it suddenly showed itself and I pushed the fire button and help it down until the bird had disappeared once more. During this burst I managed to take 50 shots and the best are reproduced below.

Cetti's Warblers are notoriously hard to even see let alone photograph, and this is only the third time I have been able to get a reasonable series of shots.