Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus

Willen Lake  - 11th May 2008

Photos copyright Keith O'Hagan

These remarkable are of a Great Reed Warbler, a major Buckinghamshire rarity.  Keith O'Horgan found and photographed the bird, realised he had an unusual bird and even recorded some calls/song on his mobile phone.  He posted a message and uploaded his photographs onto Bird Forum, these being picked up by local birders late that evening.  Unfortunately it too late for anyone to visit the site in daylight hours although two intrepid birders did visit at 22:00!.   Despite extensive searches by local birders over the following days it was not seen again.

There has only been one prior records of this species in the county, a bird at Marsworth Reservoir in 1946! 

This species breeds across much of Europe and is typically a scarce visitor to the UK in Spring.

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