The gorgeous weather tempted me to catch the early train to Hillerød to seek out the River Warbler that had been reported for the last couple of days. I heard what I thought was a snatch of River Warbler song when Libby and I were on Bornholm in May but unfortunately we didn't have time to investigate it properly, so it would be a new bird for me in Denmark. It was a beautiful still morning when I arrived at the forest area and immediately I could hear the bird, even though I was probably about half a kilometre away at that point. It was singing constantly (it sounds like a cicada) and luckily, when I arrived at the right place, it was singing from a birch tree right beside the path. It showed pretty well for a species known to be secretive and elusive and sang almost constantly for the hour and a half I was there. Amazingly, I didn't see another birder - bliss!
The habitat in the surrounding area was very impressive - lots of wet, boggy birch forest with open meadows. It looked great for Corncrake, too, but despite my efforts I couldn't hear one. A bit further along, there were two pairs of Red-backed Shrikes obviously feeding young in the nest. They were hunting from the tops of bushes, mostly catching wasps. It is great to see these birds - once common across England - doing well in open heath areas, not dissimilar habitat to the Brecks.
Photos below: River Warbler; adult male Red-backed Shrike![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1h44f0fAW4Jeh33FLV-1VLMZERCbk0yDY4s2JPsG20gvKC6QxN7YStVSn-x8ZhVFAv3MMJWtNjcAdV4Mvc6S3_13VoJwqY47mvciD8ygQVniViCF-Giau4c21CZzxOiL7E8tRg476DQvi/s320/2009-06-23+River+Warbler.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimc8L3x60miisIoKh1N3cbaMwPaqdrTN8_KbFz5zN9BAFnGIKdhpmtPyLmGPZmVxE5t8hLytsQN2PnwbRtgQhSp9-IdCpN7uSaPLGpQjf9BQc7p3CU-XfZuVbv3lb6lidfDRLv6mnwEo92/s320/2009-06-23+RB+Shrike+portrait+dive.jpg)
2 comments:
Well done on seeing the River Warbler Terry & great shots of the River Warbler (& Shrike), brings back memories of the Boughton Fen bird in Norfolk 20 years ago in July 1989, time we had another!
Thanks Peter. I don't think you'll have any problem finding it if one turns up - they are loud and sing almost constantly, even during the day, when they first find a territory. Probably like Grasshopper Warblers and go almost silent once paired up, though.
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