Jane and I were up at 4am this morning in order to join a dawn chorus walk at the RSPB’s Otmoor reserve an hour later. Unfortunately the weather was not great — cold, grey, wet and windy — but we still got to hear plenty of avian choristry. Among other things we heard reed warblers, sedge warblers and grasshopper warblers.

The recent rain has been largely good for Otmoor (although not for the early broods of some ground nesting birds) by bringing up the level of water, which had been sinking perilously low over the past 18 months. At some point though we will get a break from it and experience some clearer, warmer mornings and perhaps Jane and I will rise early again to make a trip back to listen to the chorus once more.