Great Reed Warbler Paxton Gravel Pits

At Paxton Gravel Pits in Cambridgeshire this morning, the long staying great reed warbler was blasting out its song and occasionally showed well when it climbed to the stop of  a reed, before dropping down again and out of sight. My second great reed warbler of the year, but only my third ever in the UK.

The pits are well known for their nightingales which now total about 28 pairs, as well as an important inland colony of cormorants. Nightingales are now beginning to stop singing as I discovered last week at Whisby, but even so I managed to hear one at point blank range. Also today a few garden warblers and a cuckoo.