Thursday 12 December 2013

Northants - Hume's Leaf Warbler

A report of Hume's Leaf Warbler had come out the previous week with access details to follow IF the bird stayed.  Saturday confirmed it was still present and I saw half expecting my email for a 'guided access' on the Wednesday to bounce back with 'sorry full up'! It didn't.......

The rest is history and I joined 20+ birders mid morning with the news it HAD been showing well!


Now use of  the past tense could have proved ominous but there was no problem in hearing the Hume's and surely it was just a matter of time before it returned to the favoured willow? It did.....


Even obliging with a side on profile!


The willow was clearly a haven for small insects! And as ever, small Warblers intuitively make sure they are behind a tangled web of branches! Good old manual focus :-)




I always to try and get images including some key id features and this is probably the clearest record shot of general features with dark legs and ill defined median covert bar. Colour tones seemed to be affected by the light which went from bright sunshine to gloom!


The drab head lacking the greenish hue of Yellow-browed and the distinctly grey nape.




I knew the tertials were  'must' and just kept firing in the hope that one of the images would oblige? This is the one and only and does show the pale grey centres.


Finally if all else fails - I hope someone got a recording of the song? It certainly was a very vocal bird!


As twitches go, it was a precise event! You knew where you were going, and when to arrive! First come first served email seemed a fair way to allocate places and I'm sure everyone went away having had good views! Neil certainly pulled out all the organisational stops and I know many folk thanked him personally afterwords - ditto! Well done....