Sunday 9 February 2014

Myrtle Warbler...I still prefer Yellow-rumped!

My story starts yesterday with a Pager message informing me of a report of a MYRTLE WARBLER in County Durham...no less. Pictures on the 'net looked good...but you never know...do you?

My thoughts immediately turned back to the mid-nineties (as you do!). I remember vividly (and probably sadly) the bird in Bristol (16th/17th November 1994), followed by the bird on Tresco (4th - 15th October 1995). Both out of my reach at the time due to family/work commitments. They were called YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS then..and still are on Bubo! Since the split MYRTLE remains the only one to have occurred in Britain...we're still waiting for an AUDUBON'S.

We had arranged to go over to my lads in Huddersfield today and that was still the case first thing this morning as no details of site or access were forthcoming.

Then the *+&@ hit the fan...as they say. Arrangements were altered and we set off...pronto. My lad was somewhat disappointingly less than put out!

We arrived on site around 12.45 and joined the assembled crowd. I almost immediately saw Haydn who'd been there over an hour with no luck. As we started having a chat the bird was located and within 5 minutes we'd both "had it".

TREMENDOUS!!!

What a bonus in mid-winter...and another American Warbler to boot! You just never know in this game. Everyone seemed to connect eventually and the atmosphere was extremely convivial. I saw it on and off for the next hour before I hailed my driver (Louise) and we headed back South.

The bird was very active and spent most of it's time deep in the bushes. It frequently fed on coconut put out for it...


My next image is a result of my (extremely skillful!) point and shoot in the general direction and hope for the best technique...


To be honest I didn't even know it was in the frame until I downloaded it!

A bit closer...


No comments: