Best time to see: late Apr to mid Sep

Key facts

Noisy little bird of reed beds and bushy margins, its vigorous song a mixture of stuttering trills and harsh phrases

Habitat: reed beds, marshes, ditches and dykes

Summer visitor widespread near fresh water, wintering in tropical Africa

Recognition

Bold eyebrow contrasts with black eyestripe; pale underparts with buff flanks; 12–13cm

Often sings well hidden in vegetation Play but sometimes perches openly

Feeds mostly on small insects, also beetles, spiders, caterpillars, small dragonflies

Lifecycle

Males sing during short up-and-down courtship flights with quivering wings

Nest is a cup of grass lined with hair hidden in waterside vegetation, on or near ground

One, sometimes 2, broods May to July; 5–6 pale green eggs, speckled buff