There is proof of a Eurasian River Warblers (Locustella fluviatilis) around Idstein in the Taunus region about 40 km north from Frankfurt city center. The area is called the “Hintertaunus”. According to a report in Ornitho.de this Warbler with a eastern distribution could be seen singing. Shortly after arrival at the site, the bird could be discovered. Photo documents were made. The song was to be heard very well from a distance of about 100 meters. The River Warbler sang perseveringly from the top of a fairly small willow bushes – the smallest in the area. From there, the Warbler changed position occasionally to the adjacent last year’s reeds. Then the Warbler flew back into the series with willow bushes. The radius of action during my one-hour presence was not more than 50 meters. Between the singing activities Warbler slipped nimbly between the densely grown branches of the willows and the reeds back and forth. Once he probably bathed well in the small brook at the foot of the pasture. Anyway, he was pretty wet after a while of disappearance. He went back to its preferred perch just cleaning and preening the feathers. In the photos the diffuse striped breast is clearly visible. Remarkable are the pretty light, pink-colored legs.
Whether it is just one individual of the Eurasian River Warblers, is not entirely clear. At a time, I felt as if there was another on singing from further away. In the same area were also at least 3 Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris); singing loudly as well. An antagonistic behavior between the two species could not be identified.
The Warbler must be in the area since at least the 14th May 2014 because since that date there is a reporting in Ornitho.de. It is questionable whether this species is increasingly found in Western Germany – or has only been overlooked. Anyway, the River Warbler (Locustella fluviatilis) is a rare species in western Germany.
In his “Handbook of the Birds of Central Europe “, Volume 12 / I ” Passeriformes , Sylviidae ” describes Urs N. Glutz Blotzheim that the Warbler has a main distribution area which extends from the eastern central Europe east to western Siberia. It is a long-distance migrant whose wintering grounds are located in southern Africa. In Germany, the western limit of distribution is roughly on a north – south line from the eastern Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony into middle eastern Bavaria. West of this the River Warbler occurred at least at the time of print in 1991 only sporadically with breeding. Glutz of Blotzheim also constitutes that, due to its secretive behavior during the most part of the breeding season, the distribution limit is difficult to estimate.
The best time to search for an occurrence is from mid May to late June. The time window, to see this warbler singing is quite narrow. The song is a monotonous mechanical sound; like a sewing machine or an insect. The proof now – mid May – fits perfectly to a bird which may still be looking for its partner and its territory. After all, the habitat description for this Warbler fits perfectly on the area found.
The River warbler (Locustella fluviatilis) had been already subject to a blog. This was due to the fact, that an image of this bird was the most successful; in terms of number of publications and revenues. The relevant photo was shot almost in the same time of the year, on May, 22nd 2004 at the Teerofenbruecke near Schwedt in East Germany. This area is a well-known gate to the national park “Lower Odertal”, a national park created in 1995 in the northeast of Brandenburg/ Germany near the border to Poland.
In order to meet the growing demand for top images of the rarer species of Palaearctic, Bird-lens.com has specifically made trips to remote places. This to be able to do everything to ensure excellent photos of the Birds of the Western Palearctic. The yield of pictures also of rare Western Palaearctic birds is very good. The beautiful image of the blog is only a first impression of what you can find in behind the tab “Picture- Shop“. Just give a message, when a picture of a bird is needed before the new pictures are online.