Great Reed Warbler at Low Barns NR Co. Durham

The singing male Great Reed Warbler was still present in rather a small area of reeds for its sixth day on 18th June ... it was singing intermittently just in front of the North hide although a little distance away ... and spending some time in reeds just to the west of that spot ...

Several Reed Warblers were frequenting its favoured area and were singing rather weakly ... then after three quarters of an hour the guttural sounds of its song came from the reeds ... the North hide is situated high on the bank above the lake and so looks down on the reedbed but the bird was perched low in the reeds and initially gave brief partial views ... then it came up the stems to give reasonable views as it continued singing from the middle of a patch of swaying reeds ...

... the Reed Warblers had looked very small from this distance so when the Great Reed Warbler appeared the scale of the bird was obvious ...

... it never came into a truly prominent position but with the elevation of the hide all of the assembled throng eventually located the bird and had good enough views ...

... then after a quarter of an hour's concerted singing the bird flew back to its other patch of reeds ...

Great Reed Warbler breeds across a wide swathe of Eurasia ... British records have numbered between five and ten birds in most years over the past decade although prior to 1958 there were no more than a dozen or so records in total ... rather fittingly this bird was in the same county that the first English record came from in 1847 ... and happily the present bird was watched by many people rather than suffering the fate of death as did the earlier bird ...

It was good to revisit the reserve after my last visit around twenty years ago ... some new boardwalk passed through another reedbed that was rich with Reed Warbler song ... one worked its way obligingly along the edge of the reeds to give some lovely views ...

A Blackbird sings a strange song ...

I visited a farm lane in the Orton Grange area south of Carlisle today where an unusual song had been puzzling some local residents ...

The song had been noticed last spring and again this year ... I listened to a recording which included a rising and falling scale and also a 'car alarm ' like sound ... I was equally puzzled ...

In the morning sunshine today there were Great Tits calling ... Tree Sparrows were active and Stock Doves flew between the mature oaks bordering the fields ... then a Blackbird sang a fairly typical song from high in a tall oak and I watched it as it took up different positions within the branches ... then came the rising and falling scale ... it repeated that and then came the ' car alarm ' type of mechanical sound ...

I saw the bird fly to another tree and repeat the performance before coming back to its original position ... it was quite clear that all these song elements were coming from this same bird ...

Here is a complete song section -




The 'car alarm ' element is at the start ... at 7 secs a typical section ... and again at 13 and 20 secs ... then the up and down scale at 32 secs ...

The typical songs look like this -

The 'car alarm ' like this -

And the ascending and descending scales like this -

I had not been aware that Blackbirds produced these atypical song sections so I checked in BWP ( Birds of the Western Palearctic )  ... mimicry of 11 bird species is noted and mechanical sounds can be copied ... human whistles can be in the repertoire which can be added to in successive years of the bird's life 

Gruissan saltpans and limestone hills ... Slender-billed Gulls, Honey Buzzards, Mediterranean passerines ...

With punishing winds blowing in the Languedoc in mid-May the Honey Buzzards on their return journey from tropical Africa kept very low as they hugged the French coast until north of the Pyrenees ...

... along with these was a single Short-toed Eagle ...

... looking very long-winged in comparison ...

These winds brought a single Slender-billed Gull to the saltpans where they are not regular ... this first summer bird was lingering with a pair of Common Terns  ...

... and the following day a flock of ten was present and fed in characteristically delicate fashion in a sheltered corner of the saltpans ... some adults with a lovely pink flush ...

... and some first summer birds ...

... their call does not befit their elegant look and is a harsh gruff sound ...

... the tall trace on the sonogram indicating a wide band of frequencies demonstrates the unmusical quality of the sound ...

... but in flight they look even more elegant ...

With Yellow-legged Gull being the only resident species of gull on this part of the coast a passing flock of Mediterranean Gulls invited speculation on where these birds had come from and what their destination was ... we know that some German-breeding birds that visit Cumbria in autumn are heading for their winter quarters in the Iberian peninsula  ... so it is quite possible that these birds were returning to Germany ...

... the very vocal flock numbered only around ten birds but had adults ...

... second summer birds ...

... and a first winter bird ...

And ever present on the lagoons of the saltpans are Flamingoes ...

... always on the move ...

Yellow Wagtails of the presumed form M.f.cinereocapilla x iberiae are a frequent presence along the digues that separate the individual saltpans ...

...as are the Kentish Plovers ...

Then just behind the coastal strip in the vineyards a Woodchat Shrike foraged ...

... and a Melodious Warbler sang without diving for cover as most others had ...

... Tawny Pipits frequented the sandy areas ...

... and Black Kites patrolled causing panic among small passerines and large gulls alike ...

Orphean Warblers sang among the the low limestone hills but remained hidden in the foliage of the evergreen oaks ... this Dartford Warbler posed briefly as it brought food to its young ...

Two days in Spain ... an influx of Wood Sandpipers to Aiguemolls ...

It is interesting how often crossing a national border will bring changes to the landscape and wildlife ... and so it is when following the Mediterranean coast from France into Spain ...

The wetland reserve of Aiguemolls de l'Emporda that lies just over the border into Spain has a good range of habitats ... woodland, wetland and open grasslands ...

... it was alive with the song of Nightingales when I visited in the first week of May ... they are unusually visible here ...

... the wet areas attract differing species according to migration patterns and this time Wood Sandpipers were the predominant passage wader ...

... Glossy Ibis are more regular there ...

... and Purple Heron seems to be the dominant heron with this one flying by with the classic 'toes spread ' look ...

... a few Spoonbills and a single Squacco Heron fed among the vegetation ...

... and a small number of Whiskered Terns lingered ...

Just to the north lies the Cap de Creus where the habitat of open rocky slopes is suitable for Thekla Lark ... this bird perched on a prominent rock and sang intermittently ...