Yesterday I really saw a Grasshopper Warbler for the first time. Oh yes, I have had "views", "glimpses" and fleeting glances of small olive-ish birds flying away from where I had heard "reeling", but never a view that enabled me to actually watch the bird.
Yesterday all that changed, when I finally found one up near the Coastguard station on the Deer Park and watched it for almost half an hour. Great light early in the morning, and the bird sat on top of some bramble reeling happily. Wonderful to watch, with a deep yellow gape and, as it "reeled", its tail vibrated up and down rapidly in time with the song. I could also see it responding to another bird about 200 yards away, and starting to reel in reponse. What a treat.
