Reed Bunting, Emberiza Schoeniclus

Mrs Sciencebase and I opted to follow the footpath from the RSPB Ouse Fen (Earith) car park to what we refer to as the “Clouded Yellow Field”, which is the patch where we saw that butterfly in numbers in 2022 and that leads on to Brownshill Staunch where I spotted the previously mentioned Sandwich Tern. Male Reed Bunting at RSPB Ouse Fen, perched on Rape plant It’s a nice stretch to stretch one’s legs. Lots of Marsh Harrier activity over the reed beds, Chinese Water Deer and Roe Deer to see. Calls from Sedge Warbler, White Throat, Chiff Chaff (all warblers). We could hear some Bearded Reedling calling and Bittern booming and saw two different pairs of that latter species flying over the reedbeds. Also plenty of Reed Bunting around resplendant in their breeding plumage. If this bird were named in the same way as one of its close relatives, Emberiza citrinella, it would be called a Reedhammer (as in Yellowhammer, where “hammer/ammer” is old German for “bunting”. Of course, in  modern German the Yellowhammer is the “Goldammer”, while the Reed Bunt is “Rohrammer”, Rohr meaning pipe and presumably alluding to the pipe-like reeds. In my photo you can see an example of why it’s important to get a catchlight in the eye of a bird or other animal. Without that tiny glint of reflected light, the eye would have little character and with a bird like this would be lost against the black of its facial plumage. I...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Birds Photography Source Type: blogs