• An original painting in watercolour and  inks. Size 340mm x 334mm

Sedge warblers (Acrocephalus schoenobaenuss) migrate from sub-Saharan Africa every spring to nest and breed in the reed beds of Europe. We saw this one in mid May 2020, during lockdown, on a walk by the river Thames Between Pinkhill and Farmoor in Oxfordshire.

He perched up high and sang his heart out in an effort to tempt a female sedgie to breed with him. They make lovely nests woven into the reeds. But they have to be careful, cuckoos make the same migration and watch the warblers carefully in order to parasitise their nests.