Garden Warbler

J didn’t have a good night, so we decided to return home early today.

I thought I had better take a few quick photos before we departed - yew berries and hazel nuts in the hedge around our caravan, and what I assumed was a chiff chaff briefly spotted high up in the rowan tree which sits alongside us. However, when I had time to look at the three images I had captured of the warbler I realised it was not a chiff chaff, but a garden warbler, the first I’ve seen this year. My trusty Collins field guide informs me that a key feature of the garden warbler is that it has no key features ! There are one or two tell tale subtleties which I can only see because I caught the bird on camera, I wouldn’t have picked them up otherwise.

Warblers are much easier to identify when they are in song, but all are quiet now. The only birds singing are robins - two or so weeks ago they started singing again, marking out their territories for the colder months ahead. Their autumn and winter song sounds more wistful than their spring song to my ears.

Back home paracetemol and plenty of sleep for J.