BIRD 2

In some ways this bird, singing in flight over a reedbed, is similar to Bird 1, having short rounded wings and a thin insect-eater’s bill. Look again and you will see that the structure is subtly different, this bird having a much shorter rounded tail. Even more obvious, though, is that this bird has a very bold pale supercilium (‘eyebrow’) with a dark stripe above it, and the warm brown plumage, particularly of the upperparts, is streaked or spotted. The breast and flanks are pretty ‘clean’, however, unlike a pipit or lark, which would be streaked. This bird looks like a streaked warbler and the pattern and structure should point you towards Sedge Warbler, one of the few warblers that has a song flight. The reeds are a typical Sedge Warbler habitat.

KEY FEATURES †Small brown bird (compare reed heads) †Hint of streaking on upperparts †Obvious, bold, pale supercilium and dark lateral crown stripe †Shortish, rounded tail