The Garden Warbler is a Summer visitor on the patch and I have heard and Merlin ID'd them on the patch for the past two or three years but, seeing one is another thing entirely, they are very shy, elusive birds with a great and strong song. What that means is, once you've identified the song as a Garden Warbler, you might be very unlucky and never actually see one! This is the first year that I have managed to photograph one or two by patiently returning to the same area over several days and ...... waiting.
I did actually manage to get a few shots back in 2024 but I wasn't sure which warbler it was!
There's a large willow down the lane that usually attracts quite a few birds and i heard that one sing every time I passed by, on that day I got lucky.
This year I heard one when I went down to watch the Foxes, which i didn't see and decided to stay a while and return if I didn't see it. On May 22nd I stood for an hour or more while it called and sang in trees right beside me, no sighting until ...
It had moved further away but, after confirmation from Bird Forum, I had it.
One distinguishing feature is that they don't really have any! Quite a plain bird, they have a song similar to the Blackcap. On June 6th I returned and waited. What a difference! maybe it now had young and needed to get out foraging but, it landed right in front of me and flew in and out for over an hour but, I got my shots.
It even landed on the fence right beside me
I have since identified at least two more areas where they are nesting, a good year for Garden Warblers on the patch.
