With really nice sunny weather and my wife doing a shift in the hospital there was only one thing to do and guess what that was? This time last year, in fact a couple of weeks later to be exact the marsh at Exminster was alive with Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Cettis. So before it got too busy with dog walkers, joggers and cyclists,  I climbed aboard the Chinese Bike at 7.30 to see if I could get a photo of the elusive Cettis warbler that are so hard to capture on film……. at least the ones at Exminster are. Because they are not the most common of warblers nationally I feel privileged that we have such a healthy population on the marsh. When I got there Cettis were singing regularly, several males were heard, some only feet from me and I caught sight of one as it did the usual trick of singing loudly in a bush to my right and then flying across to the bush on my left to then disappear low and out of sight, singing loudly again of course.  Last year I almost got a good photo but now one year on and a bit more adept,  I am hoping to get a good shot sooner or later. Of course I will have to put the time in as I think patience is the name of the game.

With the trees really bare I did manage some good photos of a Chiffchaff, yes real Chiffchaffs…. I heard it singing this time),  and Blue Tits. The former are nice to see and photograph at this time of the year. They are not only singing but calling mournfully a single monotonous  "chaffinch" type call. I assume that these birds are males having arrived on migration before the females, and are establishing territories before the females arrive. At this time they expose themselves, as they are trying to attract a mate, but once they have paired up and nesting begins they will be much less easy to spot.  So, it makes sense to try and get some good photos while the opportunity is there. Compared to American Warblers that I was photographing last week, they are really drab  in comparison. How fitting that our warblers are so subtle and yet all the American ones are so "flash" and gaudy! I think every Englishman reading this will know what I mean. The American ones are so gorgeous, they almost defy belief.