This feels like the first real day of my new life. Normally I would have returned to work, but as the business relocated to Sheffield a year and a half ago, and the younger members of the team have since voted with their feet, I have resigned and, in effect, retired early - what a lucky position to be in!
Various events around me meant I was unsure what I could do over the weekend, so when I heard that Kev @kev07713 and Karen @karenheath62 Heath had gone to see the showy yellow-browed warbler on Sunday at Hurley, Warwickshire, and with Charlotte off playing pickleball, I decided to make the trip myself. Kev promised I wouldn’t be disappointed with the bird and expected good photo opportunities - I hoped it wouldn’t turn out like the twitch for the Ortolan bunting last year, which departed overnight before I arrived, and would be my easiest twitch ever!
I reached the site and met another birder on the track who confirmed the bird was present and showing well - he had taken some cracking photos, if he said so himself. I parked the car at the end of the lane and put on warm clothes and gloves as the temperature was still below zero. One positive was that the sun was out, making the day feel crisp and frosty. I did realise, though, that if the bird appeared in the low sun the light would be quite harsh, and so I hoped it might show just out of direct sunlight.
The bird had been feeding in scrub on either side of a ditch, the water strangely unfrozen. It seemed to work along the ditch to the left and right of a bridge crossing onto MOD land - instructions clearly state not to cross if the flag is flying on the pole beside the bridge. Behind the right-hand ditch is a compound attached to the water treatment works. I thought it would be best if the bird stayed on the right-hand side of the ditch, as although this would reduce the available light, it would avoid the harsh glare. However, within a couple of minutes I found the bird on the left-hand side, working its way back toward the bridge. There was no need to chase the bird along the ditch, as whenever it left the bridge area it soon returned, feeding predominantly on the far bank, often partially obscured or moving through the grasses and scrub like a mouse. Then, briefly, opportunities would appear as the bird showed itself in the open before darting from stem to stem. It paid no attention to me or the three other birders who had now joined me. Views of this species really don’t get any better than this!
From time to time the warbler would loosely associate with one or more of the roughly four chiffchaffs feeding along the same ditch. One was very pale underneath, presumably the Siberian chiffchaff reported by others, but it went awol before I had a chance to get a photograph and I didn’t see it again. The other three chiffchaffs showed regularly and were easily distinguishable by their differing colouration, one being particularly pale. It does seem that many more chiffchaffs are overwintering in the UK these days.
While watching the ditch, a few other birds worked the margins: a stonechat, a common snipe, a pair of wrens chasing and singing, and a couple of robins. Around the edges of the compound, blackbirds, redwings, and fieldfares fed on berry bushes, while in the field behind a flock of 50+ linnets mixed with goldfinches, skylarks, yellowhammers, and meadow pipits.
Having walked along the ditch to the left of the bridge, I eventually decided to head back up the slope to see what might be found in the hedge. The linnets relocated to the tops of the trees, joined by yellowhammers, while chaffinches and a couple of reed buntings worked the hedge itself. There had been talk of a potential merlin across the field, but that didn’t materialise - though with flocks of small birds present, it’s easy to see why one might favour this area.
I could have waited and hoped the merlin might appear, but by now I’d lost all feeling in my fingers. Having seen what I’d come for and logged 26 species, I decided to head for home.
Year list: 84.
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