Willow Warblers at Emsworthy Mire
There it is again; that fluttering movement from something no bigger than a leaf on the breeze. I track the quiver of movement through the bracken and see a Willow Warbler emerge:
Getting an unobstructed view is always a challenge. I can’t complain though, being half covered in vegetation myself, to evade being seen.
I can hear newly fledged youngsters in the Hawthorn tree to my left. It’s also a challenge to count them. They’re embedded deeply in the depths of the thorny tree. I suspect there are four. That’s an encouraging brood size.
I wait for an hour or so and track the parents’ journeys back and forth from the bracken to the fledgelings with invertebrates. There are a few branches which are more bare than others on the side of the tree and there’s a fledgeling nearby so I make my way towards what will make a good background for a photograph and wait.
It’s half a dozen attempts later that I catch an adult just as it’s going to fly back for more provisions.
I like the way that the adults can hover briefly to inspect the underside of branches and leaves for prey items. They look beautiful in dappled light:
Good luck to you and all your brood in your journey to Africa and back.
They are ten grammes of pure attitude.