Hi all
I recently photographed this warbler at the edge of a large reedbed without any stretches of open water in Pretoria, South Africa. It seems to have the general looks of an acrocephalus warbler, and the heavy bill seems to fit Great Reed Warbler (The smaller reed warblers and Lesser Swamp-Warbler have more slender bills, and Lesser Swamp-Warbler also prefers reedbeds with deeper, open water). However, I don't feel that this bird fits Great Reed Warbler exactly in terms of giss - with it looking rather "baby-faced" with a stubbier bill. It was difficult to judge the bird's size, but my initial impression of it being about the size of a Ploceus weaver made me instantly jump to the conclusion of GRW, although it didn't appear huge and they tend to be a little bigger than a weaver I think. In the last photo I think that I can just make out a rather long primary projection. It would be great to hear any other opinions. Thanks!
Kind regards
Keanu
I recently photographed this warbler at the edge of a large reedbed without any stretches of open water in Pretoria, South Africa. It seems to have the general looks of an acrocephalus warbler, and the heavy bill seems to fit Great Reed Warbler (The smaller reed warblers and Lesser Swamp-Warbler have more slender bills, and Lesser Swamp-Warbler also prefers reedbeds with deeper, open water). However, I don't feel that this bird fits Great Reed Warbler exactly in terms of giss - with it looking rather "baby-faced" with a stubbier bill. It was difficult to judge the bird's size, but my initial impression of it being about the size of a Ploceus weaver made me instantly jump to the conclusion of GRW, although it didn't appear huge and they tend to be a little bigger than a weaver I think. In the last photo I think that I can just make out a rather long primary projection. It would be great to hear any other opinions. Thanks!
Kind regards
Keanu