Grasshopper Warbler (Locustella naevia). Male. Taken at Otmoor, Oxon., on April 30th 2016.
Male. Taken at Otmoor, Oxon., on April 30th 2016.
(1/640th sec at f16. Click image for larger version. © David Hastings) Description
L: 12.5 - 13.5cm
A small, brown bird with a long rounded tail. Its insect-like reeling song is the best clue to its presence.
The Grasshopper Warbler can be found in most of the British Isles, arriving in April and leaving in September. It spends the winter in tropical Africa.
It prefers areas of scrub, thick grassland, the edges of reedbeds, new forestry plantations and gravel pits with plenty of scattered bushes.
It moves like a mouse, creeping through the undergrowth.
The Grasshopper Warbler is a Red List species owing to a dramatic population decline. There are about 16000 pairs in the UK.
Sightings
| 03-Jul-2022 | : | Standlake Common, Oxon | (h) |
| 29-Apr-2022 | : | Farmoor Reservoir, Oxon | (h) |
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| 09-May-2021 | : | Farmoor Reservoir, Oxon | (1) |
| 25-Apr-2021 | : | Farmoor Reservoir, Oxon | (h) |
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| 11-Jun-2020 | : | Farmoor Reservoir, Oxon | (1) |
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| 01-May-2019 | : | Farmoor Reservoir, Oxon | (1) |
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| 13-May-2018 | : | Farmoor Reservoir, Oxon | (2) |
| 01-May-2018 | : | Otmoor, Oxon | (1) |
| 25-Apr-2018 | : | Farmoor Reservoir, Oxon | (2h) |
| 14-Mar-2018 | : | Fuerteventura, Canary Islands | (1) |
| 12-Mar-2018 | : | Fuerteventura, Canary Islands | (1) |
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| 21-Apr-2017 | : | MoD Arncott | (1+) |
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| 30-Apr-2016 | : | Otmoor, Oxon | (1+) |
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| 21-May-2010 | : | Otmoor, Oxon | |
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| 01-May-2009 | : | Burgess Field, Oxon | |
| 12-Apr-2009 | : | Otmoor, Oxon | |
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| 01-May-2006 | : | Otmoor, Oxon | |
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| 15-May-2005 | : | Otmoor, Oxon | |
