ORIENTAL REED-WARBLER heard at Lower Daintree, FNQ

on Monday 12/02/18 at about 1:15pm whilst at work in our open-air on-site office, I could hear the song of what could only have been an Oriental Reed-Warbler.

the bird was only about 40mtrs away, and just inside the corner of a 3/4-grown crop of sugar cane that abutted the carpark, so I walked over towards where the call came from and waited for it to call again.

it then called again at 1:25pm and it didn’t seem to have moved much from where I’d just heard it. I could see a bit of movement of the top of one of the cane stands, so I knew where the bird was.

but I could NOT see it!

when it called for the third time, I telephoned someone in Melbourne whom I felt could confirm the call if he heard it over the phone. and frustratingly, despite the bird calling a few more times, the listener could not pick up the call from their end of the phone.

it then made another brief bout of song at 1:45pm, and then nothing.

I haven’t heard the bird again since, even though i’ve been listening for it.

I have never heard or seen an ORW in the ‘flesh’ before, BUT I have made an effort to learn the call years ago from various different apps & CD’s, my HANZAB’s, internet, etc, etc…

and from my extensive Oz birding experience of some 47 years (26 of them living in VIC, 21 of them up around Cairns, and 1.5yrs near Newcastle), I have heard and seen 100’s of Aust RW’s…

when hearing the bird, which I know was within 5 mtrs of me at one point and calling, and no more than 10 mtrs away when calling at any time, I was struck by how surprisingly much lower it was in volume when compared to our Aust RW, which I hear on many days when they are here in the cane during winter.

to me it sounded like a quiet ARW, and not only with a cold, but also with a frog stuck in its throat as well !!

there were no loud notes at all, and certainly no ringing or silvery notes, and the lower notes were nowhere near as rich and full-bodied as an ARW.

what I haerd just sounded less loud, at a different pitch altogether, and somewhat crotchety & ratchety in comparison to an ARW.

I am totally convinced that it was indeed an Oriental Redd-Warbler.

I welcome any questions or comments, and of course, I will post again if/when I hear it again…

cheers for now,

martin cachard

solar whisper wildlife cruises,

daintree river, FNQ

& trinity beach, cairns