Sedge Warbler

Chatter from deep in the reeds

You hear the Sedge Warbler long before you see it: a hurried, scratchy rush of song from somewhere in the reeds, full of chirps, rattles and borrowed phrases, rarely sung the same way twice.

Every so often it flutters up a few metres, still singing, and drops back into the stems. Up close it is a small brown bird with a bold pale stripe over the eye.