Scarce Warbler Fest #1, Marsh Warbler at Sandy, 14th June 2020

A New Camera!

I had spent the early part of the week deliberating over whether or not to buy a new camera kit or not. In the end I went for it and treated myself to a new camera body, a Canon 90D, not an obvious upgrade on my tired old Canon 7D II, but with over 50% more pixels it sounded good. Many reviewers had expressed concern that the 90D "only" had 45 auto focus points (AF) as opposed to the 65 AF of the 7D but I figured that, considering I shoot mostly with just a single AF point in use, it shouldn't be a problem. The 90D also promised to be much quicker in focussing than the 7D which should help in tracking moving objects and most birds are usually very active. I had also ordered the super swanky, all bells and whistles, Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens which I had only heard great things about. I used to own the mark I version of that lens but changed to the 400 prime which I felt was sharper. The mark II though, boasts image stabilisation which assured an upgrade in picture quality and combined with the new camera body promised an improvement in the results of my efforts.

On Friday the new camera body arrived but the lens wouldn't be with me until the following week so to begin with I'd still be using the prime lens. I set the new body and lens together and popped out into the garden to get a feel for it and for some practice. It was raining outside and there wasn't much to take photos of, plus I was keen not to waste any shots since, if I had wanted to return the camera, it would only be accepted back with less than 30 shutter uses. I took a few photos of a Collared Dove and after editing was very impressed indeed. Those extra 12.5 million pixels certainly make a huge difference in picture quality!

Collared Dove

Saturday was spent at home on essential tasks but I allowed myself an hour in the garden, this time it was sunny and the garden birds plus the local Red Kites were very willing subjects. The camera performed brilliantly, even allowing for myself to get used to it. The concern over the lack of AF points was, to my mind, ill founded and I didn't see any issues in getting good photos. I was now really keen to use it out in the field on a "proper" bird or two.

Robin

Wood Pigeon

Red Kite

The 90D combined with the 400 prime lens focussed much quicker than the 7D did, but still not quite fast enough for me to get pristine images of a tussle between a Red Kite and a Carrion Crow high above my garden but I wasn't too hard on myself for blurring the photos of the aerial ballet because the birds were high up and pushing the reach of my lens. New toys have to be gotten used to. 

Red Kite & Carrion Crow ballet!

Anyway enough of the geeky technical stuff, it's not my forte at all, and on with the birding........


A Sandy Marsh Warbler!

Not sure if I can claim an oxymoron for that one but it must be close. A Marsh Warbler had been discovered on Friday next to the River Ivel on the outskirts of Sandy in Bedfordshire by an intrepid local birder working his usual patch. Some pretty good photographs of it had been posted online throughout Friday and Saturday so, needing a Marsh Warbler for the year list we made plans to try and see it on Sunday morning. We have only had three Marsh Warbler sightings before, the first at Applecross back in June 2008 and the most recent in June last year at Lodmoor, a bird that formed a part of an exciting days birding during which we also saw a Glossy Ibis and which culminated with a late afternoon dash to Slimbridge to get our first ever Little Bustard!

Sandy is around an hours drive from home, and even though I knew that early morning was best for the Marsh Warbler, we still didn't manage to arrive until eight o'clock. Parking was easy, right next to the road bridge over the river, and we were soon walking along the Bankside path towards our quarry. On our way we were entertained by at least two Cuckoos calling from either side of the river and by a Grasshopper Warbler reeling away from the long grass in one of the adjoining fields. Normally I would have stopped and spent the next few hours trying to pin the Gropper down for a decent view but we were on a mission for the less common Warbler so we carried on walking straight past. After twenty minutes we rounded a bend in the river and saw the assembly of around half a dozen fellow twitchers stood attentively watching a reed filled stream on the opposite side of the path from the river.

Cuckoo

I asked if the Marsh warbler had been seen, it had, just ten minutes before we arrived so at least we knew it was still there, and whereabouts it had been seen. There was a small isolated bush about five metres away from a large willow tree and a few metres from the reed filled ditch. Apparently the Marsh Warbler had popped up in that bush before disappearing into the rank grasses that surrounded it. There were other birds in and around the thorny bush, over the next few minutes I saw a Reed Bunting, a male Blackcap and a Wren appear so there was more than one false alarm amongst the other birders. Less than ten minutes into our watch, I saw a bird with all the right credentials appear low down in the left side of the bush and move quickly to the right and into the grass. A male Reed Bunting had followed it and by the time I had called it only the second bird remained on view. A few disparaging remarks followed during which time my own credentials were seriously questioned and I found myself having to explain that there were two birds and the other one was, I'm pretty sure, the Marsh Warbler. At least Mrs Caley believed me. I suggested that everybody should watch the reeds in the middle of the stream, that was where most of the photos of the bird had been taken on the previous two days, since that was where the Marsh Warbler was heading. A few moments later a small light brown coloured, definitely Warbler shaped, bird moved quickly through the reed stems and appeared just for few seconds in the rank vegetation next to the path. Ensuring that my ability wouldn't be questioned a second time I took a quick couple of frames. Luckily, as examination of the back of the camera image proved, I had captured the Marsh Warbler even though it was blurred, not the new cameras fault at all but having a very small gap in the foliage to shoot through, even a single focussing point was too big and it got fooled by the surrounding foliage.

Marsh Warbler

To be fair, if I had seen this bird anywhere without knowing it was a Marsh Warbler then I'd never have been able to identify it for sure, even though the more rounded head, compared to Reed Warbler, was evident. A few seconds later though I most certainly would have been able to since the Marsh Warbler scrambled up one of the reed stems and began singing. Now everybody was happy, the bird was in view and was belting out its song full of mimicry, eliminating any confusion with similar looking Warblers such as Reed and Blyth's Reed.

The Marsh Warbler stayed singing on the reed stem for a good minute or so and I battled hard to get an angle that would stop the camera from focussing on adjacent reeds and grasses which were forever swaying in the breeze. The Marsh Warbler dropped slightly lower into the stream grasses, still visible but more obscured and much more difficult to see. 

Over the next hour or so the Marsh Warbler was fairly active, disappearing for a while then briefly singing from within the reeds and grasses but never showing as well as before. Of course we could hear the rich song and picked out amongst others, notes of Blue Tit, Nightingale, Oystercatcher and Starling. Apparently during its stay, recordings made of the Marsh Warbler revealed mimicry of a mind boggling twenty-one different bird species. I, as I always do and unlike most of the other birders who stood around chatting excitedly having seen the bird, studied the Warblers movements to establish its pattern so that I knew where it would most likely turn up next. To that end, I moved Mrs Caley and myself to the other end of the stretch of stream that the Marsh Warbler was frequenting, and to a vantage point from where I could watch the willow tree. I had ascertained that the Marsh Warbler would go into the willow after hopping through the reeds, work its way through a small spinney of small trees which lined a pond and then back again. From the willow it would fly into the small bush where I'd first seen it and then back into the reeds and grasses again and repeat. After the Marsh Warbler had made a couple of circuits I was ready to catch it in the willow which I duly did although the results were disappointing. I will need a lot more practice with the new camera and learn to adjust settings as required.

We had been on site for two hours and the Marsh Warblers appearances were becoming less regular. We had really good views of it preening in the willow tree but I had failed to record a single usable photo of it doing so. My attention began to wander, I could still hear a Grasshopper Warbler reeling away from the field so decided to find that which I did without any trouble but the problem was it was around fifty metres away so my photograph was for record purposes only. I think I've seen Groppers at more different locations this spring and summer than ever before. They appear to be one of the few bird species that are increasing in number.

Grasshopper Warbler

A fine Common Tern came flying along the river towards us, and considering I needed practice, I aimed and tried a few different settings especially when it flew in front of some trees. I struggled with the 7D whenever a bird flew in front of a solid background, most recently with the Black Terns at Farmoor the week before, but the 90D seemed to be better at staying locked on to the subject.

I took a few photos of the Wren as it hopped through the low branches of the small bush that the Marsh Warbler also liked, and some of one of the many House Sparrows that fed amongst the riverside vegetation.

Wren

House Sparrow

At half past ten I was ready to call it a day, the Marsh Warbler hadn't shown at all for over forty minutes. On a whim we chose to return to our original position at the other end of the stream. Less than a minute later the Marsh Warbler flew out of the willow and into reeds directly below our standpoint. We could hear it calling, a soft "che, chk", but couldn't see it even though it was just metres away. But then we, along with just one lady who was stood next to us, had our big moment when the Marsh Warbler flew back to the small bush and posed in full view momentarily, long enough for me to claim probably my best shots of a Marsh Warbler so far. The bird even jumped across to the other side of the bush and faced the other way so that I could get the opposite pose too.

It wouldn't get any better so that was good enough for us. On the way back to the car we got checked out by a Kestrel and I took some more shots of the House Sparrows. I think I'm going to enjoy getting to grips with my new camera especially when I can add the new lens to it in the coming week.

Kestrel