Ireland’s seventh Marsh warbler
Marsh warbler singing - Cahore marsh, Wexford - Cian Cardiff
Cahore marsh is well known for its large numbers of breeding reed warbler in summer. In fact it could be one of the most important sites in Ireland for this migrant species. On the 27th of June 2017 just after myself and my parents had moved to Kilmuckridge, Wexford (which is about five minutes from cahore) I went down the marsh for a few hours birding. And I was not expecting to find a seventh record for Ireland. After finding a lovely juvenile little ringed plover in the muddy section of the back marsh I then moved on after the little ringed had flown over my head towards the central marsh. As I opened the gate to walk down the track between the two drainage ditches, I suddenly heard a loud warbler singing its heart out from low downin the reeds to my left. I knew that this did not sound like a reed warbler which I was so used to hearing from mid-April on here. I thought to myself this sounds interesting, trying not to get too excited just in case it was a male reed warbler giving an unusual song. I stayed in the same spot listening to the bird for a couple of hours as I rang my good friend Brian Mccloskey just to let him know that I had a potential very rare bird at Cahore. Eventually I managed some reasonable sound recordings on my phone and sent them around to several birders. I then saw the bird as it creeped up a reed stalk and graced me with a lovely view as it sang from the tops of the reeds. I fired off several record shots, also sending them off to other birders. I received some great feedback that this bird was in fact what I had suspected it to be, a Marsh warbler! Only the seventh time this species had ever been recorded in Ireland to date. A mega to say the least. Thankfully Brian had left after I had figured out that this was a marsh warbler and got to see the bird that evening as it put on a great performance. As it did for several days for many to see and hear!
Marsh warbler singing - Cahore marsh, Wexford - Cian Cardiff
The bird sang constantly during it's stay and gave the opportunity for some to get sound recordings which I hope to share some time. This link is well worth a read (Marsh and Reed Warbler | Birding Frontiers (wordpress.com)) Another link to the sound approachs work recently on acros and more. (
https://soundapproach.co.uk/9-in-your-dreams/)
Marsh warbler singing - Cahore marsh, Wexford - Cian Cardiff
This was one of the first images I managed to obtain of the bird after it decided to come to the top of the reeds and sing. The creamy/sandy colour can be seen well from this image which really gave me the impression that this was no reed warbler.
Marsh warbler singing - Cahore marsh, Wexford - Mark Stewart
Marsh warbler singing - Cahore marsh, Wexford - Mark Stewart
Marsh warbler singing - Cahore marsh, Wexford - Mark Stewart
Thankfully this bird stayed a few weeks for many birders to enough throughout late June and early July of 2017. Hopefully this is not the last marsh warbler I see in Ireland! I have been lucky enough to now find this marsh warbler along with a cetti's and savi's in Ireland. Great reed next?
#Summerbirding #warbler #rares #Wexford #vikingoptical #irishbirding #birdguides
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