Savi's in the bag!

8/06/14

With the continued presence of the Savi's Warbler at Newport Wetlands, and with it being only an hour and a half down the road it was worth the effort (It takes that amount of time to reach some midlands sites, never mind south Wales!)

 

Sadly however, with it having been around for a number of weeks, it had become much more elusive, and that proved so true!

 

Hours were spent standing adjacent to the area the bird had been seen in, and there was very little activity. Bearded Tits could be heard 'pinging' from many stands of reed around us, and brief flight views proved a welcomed distraction to what was rather a tedious wait.

 

As I said though, hours passed, and there was still nothing, the only hope resting on the fact the bird had been heard very early that morning! Time dragged on, a few Little Egrets flew past but it was hard to keep staring at a seemingly empty patch of reeds.

 

Eventually I cracked, and walked off, and I continued on, and still, saw very little. But eventually a couple of long tailed birds could be seen flicking across the tops of the reeds, and as I was standing behind one of the screens, a Bearded Tit flew in  and dropped down on the edge of the reeds, showing very well!

I had left my scope back at the crowd which was just down the track, so I only had my bins to take photos. But still, I managed a few photos which are my first of the species!

 

 

 
 

 

Feeling quite happy with that, I trudged back to the crowd.

 

A bird started moving in the reeds below us, and then it happened!

It reeled!

 

The dry wooden rattle rang out for a short time, and then it went silent, as it slowly moved through the reedbed, where it could be seen as it slinked its way back into the depths of the reedbed! And that was it, 3 hours for less than 10 seconds, not particularly satisfying considering views other people had been getting, but non the less, it was the SAVI'S WARBLER! Finally!

 

Another significant time followed, but still it steadfastly refused to show, so it was time to head back to the car. However, one last decent find was a singing Lesser Whitethroat along the track back to the visitor centre.

 

MB