24 Jun 21 - A Summer's Melody

Around late-evening on the 23rd, I heard about a probable Icterine Warbler that had been seen singing by the Harrier hide at Middlebere. It had been found by a local Birdwatcher whilst doing his normal dog-walk and had been present for about a week. This was exciting for a number of reasons as I've only seen one in Dorset on 31 Aug & 1 Sep 1981 at Portland Bill. Consequently, it would be a Ten Mile of the house Tick, which is the list I've been most keen on since I moved to Dorset back in 1996. Additionally, I was year-listing in the Historic Isle of Purbeck and this would be a good bonus year tick. I circulated the news & headed to bed, as it was going to be an early start the following morning.

I was up for about five the following morning & I arrived at Middlebere about 05:30. As I arrived I received a message from Paul Morton that it was still present & singing its heart out: but it was a Melodious Warbler. I was slightly disappointed as I had hoped to be the first there. While, it would be a nice Isle of Purbeck Year Tick and it would be my fifth local Melodious Warbler. I carried onto the Harrier hide & quickly located in the tops of some Pine trees just beyond the hide. After watching it and taking the first photographs, I started to get the news out that the probable Icterine Warbler was a Melodious Warbler & it was showing well.

Melodious Warbler: I never managed to get a photograph showing the wing formula well, but its still possible to see the short wings and the short primary extension

Paul Morton also managed to get some nice recordings of the Melodious Warbler which are on the Birds of Poole Harbour website for 24 Jun 21. It's not often we get the chance to hear one singing in Dorset.

Melodious Warbler

There is always the worry that something like a singing male Melodious Warbler in the breeding season might have a female with it, but this looked like a lone male who had overshot a Spanish territory. The news was released to the info services and over the next few days there were a number of visiting Birders who arrived to see it, until it was last seen on 28 Jun. Virtually, all were well behaved, apart from one unknown idiot: who was told off by one of the local Birders when he caught him playing a recording. His excuse, it wasn't showing. I wish it had been me who caught him, as this behaviour during the breeding season isn't acceptable in the UK. He would have ended up being photographed and the subject of a tweet highlighting his selfishness to the Melodious Warbler. Almost certainly this wouldn't have been an isolated incident.

Melodious Warbler: It spent nearly all its time singing from the top branches of the surrounding Pines. But on one occasion, it dropped down to this Bracken patch to sing

Trevor Warrick: Local Wareham Birder Trev has a reputation of being a late starter who is never seen early in field. Seeing Trev Birding at 07:45 was almost as rare a sighting as the Melodious Warbler

26 Aug 19 - The Dorset Hippo Season Is Coming

I'm currently trying to clear a backlog of old UK photos that have accumulating over the last few years and which is clogging up my laptop. Today's Blog Post is appropriate as I'm writing this as the current Hippo season in Dorset is approaching. I had spent the previous day back in Aug 19 emptying and refilling my large pond: the first time for over a decade. I was still aching & when I saw the weather was foggy the following morning, it was a good reason not to go out Birding to St Aldhelms.

However, fellow patch watcher, Phil Saunders, had driven over from Bournemouth & decided to give it a go, as he was there. Phil rang me late morning to say he had found a Melodious Warbler when the fog cleared. It was patrolling around a few bushes at the top of Pier Bottom valley. I rang the news around. Steve Morrison, who was currently in the UK that year from his French home, & I headed down to have a look for it. We spread out when we reached Pier Bottom. It only took a few minutes to relocate and it was in the same two bushes that Phil had seen it an hour earlier. If only other Melodious Warblers were as well behaved. They generally have a habit of skulking & not showing well.

Melodious Warbler

Very quickly, we could confirm it was a Melodious Warbler, not that Phil was going to get it confused with an Icterine Warbler. My other St Aldhelms Melodious Warbler, was identified as an Icterine Warbler on 15 Aug 1996. I saw it poorly on the following day and reidentified it as a Melodious Warbler. This didn't go down well with the finder & the other local Birder who had seen it on the first day. However, they conceded I was correct when we saw it for its final day on the 17th.

Melodious Warbler

Melodious Warbler: Showing the wing formula

Melodious Warbler: Another view of the wing formula

It would be nice to see a local Icterine Warbler.

Melodious Warbler: Another view of the wing formula

14 Sep 15 - August Was A Great Month For The Studland Ballard Patch

I've managed to get out on most days in August, apart from the first few weekdays. The month got off to a good start with a party of 24 Crossbills watched flying across Brands Bay (from Littlesea) & continuing over Goathorn on 1 Aug. They were my first of the year for the Studland/Ballard patch. Hopefully, I will see more over South Haven as we get into the Vis Mig season in October & early November.

South Haven: Proof I've been getting out early on the patch: the sun rising over Christchurch. South Haven (17 Aug 15)

I've made a lot of early morning visits South Haven this Autumn in the hope of an interesting Wader, such as a Little Ringed Plover or Little Stint. The site has occasion early morning Autumn records of these species, but I've had no success so far. However, I have managed to see a general selection of commoner migrant Passerines, along with some better migrants. The first highlight at South Haven was on 7 Aug, when Graham Armstrong found a Pied Flycatcher while we were chatting & watching the edge of the bushes by the South Haven pool.

Pied Flycatcher: This Pied Flycatcher stayed around for two days at South Haven (7 Aug 15)

The following morning saw me catching up with the first of a number of August Sedge Warblers at South Haven. Unlike Reed Warblers, they do not breed at Studland. But I typically expect to see them on a few occasions, mainly during the Autumn migration. More suprisingly was hearing a calling Water Rail. This was presumably a migrant, as I haven't heard any others calling since late Winter. Another patch Year Tick was a Green Sandpiper flying over South Haven on 9 Aug. This was the first of three that I bumped into on the patch (11 Aug Brands Bay & 25 Aug South Haven). Green Sandpipers are probably just about annual on the Studland patch, but my serious patch watching over the last eight years has only produced a single in Aug 10 & three sightings involving two individuals in Aug 11. Perhaps this is a good year for Green Sandpipers. Sadly, despite the big Wood Sandpiper invasion along the South Coast this Autumn, I haven't been lucky to bump into any Wood Sandpipers. But will as many historical records of Wood Sandpipers as Melodious Warblers on the patch, then it isn't too surprising that nobody has seen or heard a Wood Sandpiper at Studland this Autumn. It remains a patch tick for myself & the two other most regular Studland Birders.The next highlight was a major rarity for the Studland/Ballard patch: a Melodious Warbler on 11 Aug. There are only a handful of records for Poole Harbour and only one (Aug 01 at Swineham) has been seen away from the Studland/Ballard patch. This was the second or third individual of the Autumn for the UK (there was another seen in Cornwall on the same date).

Melodious Warbler: A record shot from Steve Morrison (who has allowed me to publish the photo on the Blog & who retains copyright). South Haven (11 Aug 15)

I spent time watching Brands Bay on nearly ever visit to the Studland/Ballard patch during August, as well as, looking for early morning Waders on visits to South Haven. Waders numbers for the patch increased steadily during the first half of August, with increases in Curlews, Black-tailed Godwits (up to 225), Redshanks (up to 70) & Dunlin (up to 70). Sightings of Ringed Plovers were regular throughout the month, but hitting double figures was a good day. However, Brands Bay had an exception total of 63 roosting & feeding on Redhorn Quay in steady rain on 24 Aug. This smashed my previous best Brands Bay total for Ringed Plover of 24 & is potentially a new Brands Bay maximum Autumn total. It also showed how much better Redhorn Quay could be for attracting Waders, if access to dog walkers, fishermen & walkers was restricted. On that day, I had nine species of Waders (Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Greenshank, Redshank, Dunlin & Turnstone) feeding on the sand & muddy edge of Redhorn Quay on the high tide.

Whimbrel: Their favourite food seems to be small green Crabs around the edges of Brands Bay (2 Aug 15)

There were smaller numbers of Whimbrel (max 11 on 6 Aug), Bar-tailed Godwits (up to 7 still around until the last week of the month), Greenshanks (up to 3), Sanderling (up to 8 at South Haven), the first Knots of the Autumn (max 5 on 29 Aug). Common Sandpipers (max 7 on 15 Aug). Numbers of Common Sandpipers were higher than I've encountered in recent years, but not as good as historical records). But the best Wader has to be a Ruff which was roosting on the marsh on 18 Aug: this was only my second sighting for the patch.

Turnstone: Up to three were around the patch during the month, but individuals were only seen every few days. South Haven (21 Aug 15)

I was also keeping an eye on Terns throughout the month, which produced a couple of good Terns. The first was an Arctic Tern I found feeding in Brands Bay on 14 Aug. This was followed by a couple of Black Terns that Graham Armstrong found at South Haven the following day. I would expect to see Arctic Terns on one or two occasions most years, but Black Terns are a lot scarcer & aren't annually seen on the patch: so that that was a bonus species for the patch Year List.

Old Harry: I never tire of finding another angle or lighting for a photo of Old Harry (18 Aug 15)

Light to moderate Southerly winds on 20 Aug & regular Dorset sightings of Balearic Shearwaters at other coastal watch points, gave me the incentive to try some seawatching. I decided to try my luck from the high dune at Pilot's Point at South Haven, after the usual early morning Wader walk. I was surprised to find a Balearic Shearwater just off the end of the Pilot's Point breakwater on the first scan of Studland Bay: although it quickly disappeared off towards Old Harry. The following morning, I tried another seawatch from Pilot's Point with Graham Armstrong & we were rewarded with a couple of more distant Balearic Shearwaters heading East & a dark phase Arctic Skua which came into the immediate bay around the Harbour mouth. It circled, before flying high & passed over Sandbanks & into Poole Harbour. Both the Balearic Shearwater & the Arctic Skua were expected species for the Year List, but usually I end up having to carry out a lot more seawatching to see them. So it was great to have an easy time with these two species.

Littlesea in early morning light: from the high hide. I tried a Vis Mig watch on 28 Aug, but found it was too noisy as the sound of the passing cars was audible for a long time. There was little movement that morning with two Yellow Wagtails heading towards Greenlands Farm as the highlight (28 Aug 15)

Early morning mist over Greenlands Farm from the Littlesea high hide: (28 Aug 15)

I finally saw my first Osprey for the patch on 21 Aug, albeit that sighting was of an individual far up in the harbour. But it was only a few days later that I saw my first individual appeared in Brands Bay. Up to three Ospreys seem to be frequenting Brands Bay, although they are also spending time in the Middlebere and Rempstone Forest areas as well. There are two adults which often seem to follow each other around, as well as a juvenile bird. Whether they are related isn't clear, but they do seem to interact with each other. Unfortunately, I've not managed to get as good photos of the Ospreys in Brands Bay as I managed last year, but I have managed to get record shots of one of the adults & the juvenile.

Osprey: Adult. Brands Bay (10 Sep 15)

Osprey: Juvenile. Brands Bay (6 Sep 15)

The next species for the patch Year List was a couple of Tree Pipit records (28 Aug Greenlands Farm & 30 Aug South Haven). The last day of Birding on the patch was the August Fun Bird Race on 30 Aug. One of the other teams found a Wryneck on Greenlands farm in the fields by The Rare Gate. The main rule of the Fun Bird Race is teams pass news of good Birds around during the day, to give other teams the chance to see them. Unfortunately, it had disappeared by the time Peter Moore & I arrived. But fortunately, I managed to relocate it when we looked again as we were leaving Greenlands & it stayed on view long enough for Peter to photograph it & for me to get one of the other teams onto it. Only my second Wryneck for the patch & a species I hadn't expected to see. They occur every few years somewhere on the patch, but there is so much habitat at Studland, they are normally difficult to relocate.

I haven't worked out the exact number of species seen on the patch in August, but it will be over 100 for the month, which just goes to show how good the patch is. The Wryneck was species number 168 for the patch Year List. This is only eight species behind my best patch Year List of 176 species in 2009. At the end of August 2009 I was on 167 species. Hopefully, I will see another twelve species this year & hit my target of 180 species for the Studland/Ballard patch. It hasn't been hard to see Butterflies in the last few months, for my other challenge of seeing at least one Butterfly in each month on the patch.

Silver-washed Fritillary: Male. My first for the patch. Glebelands estate (16 Aug 15)

I was pleased to find three new locations for one of my favourite Orchids: Autumn Lady's Tresses. In addition to Greenlands Farm, Graham Armstrong located a spike at South Haven & I found spikes at Old Harry & on Ballard Down to the East of the Glebelands estate.

Autumn Lady's Tresses: South Haven (21 Aug 15)

10 Aug 15 - What A Prediction

The morning started in a similar way to a number of recent mornings. An early alarm call followed by breakfast & a dash to South Haven to be on the beach before 07:00. Shell Bay beach is on the seaward side of South Haven, next to the harbour mouth. As a result, it attracts Waders which have just arrived. At 07:05 the first ferry arrives from the Poole side bringing the likelihood of dog walkers doing their best to flush any Waders. Sadly, Shell Bay beach is ruined by grockles & their uncontrolled dogs soon after the ferry starts running & the Waders quickly disappear. I checked the beach & found a Curlew, 2 Ringed Plovers & 2 newly arrived Turstones on the beach and had a Whimbrel fly over. The Waders were checked just before being booted by the first dog walkers & beach types heading South for the nudist beach. Waders checked, it was time to head into the dunes & bushes surrounding the South Haven pool, to see if there are any Passerine migrants.

Brittany Ferry: A more predictable migrant heading off to France. South Haven (8 Aug 15)

The last week has seen small numbers of Autumn migrants heading South. Generally in previous Autumns, I have focused on Ballard Down & Greenlands Farm as early Autumn migrant sites within the Studland patch. But this Autumn, I've been trying South Haven first in the hope of an interesting early morning Wader e.g. Little Ringed Plover or Little Stint. As a result there were a number of common migrant species I hadn't seen at South Haven until the last week: Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler & a real goodie for South Haven, a Pied Flycatcher. But now all the easy Warblers are on the South Haven list. I saw Graham Armstrong had appeared & wandered over to join Graham looking at the bushes. Graham has a different strategy to me when checking the bushes. I tend to walk along the edge of the bushes surrounding the pool, whereas Graham tend to pick spots & wait to see if anything pops out in the next few minutes. We spent the next fifteen minutes chatting & watching the bushes. For once they were quite busy with several Garden Warblers, at least five Willow Warblers & the local Reed Warblers. While we were Birding, we were discussing what we would like to find at South Haven. For me it was a Greenish Warbler or later on a Red-flanked Bluetail: both of which would be Harbour firsts. For Graham, it was a Hippolais Warbler: Melodious Warbler or Icterine Warbler (either would have been a Poole Harbour Tick for him & he wasn't needing to find one of the really rare Hippos).

Pied Flycatcher: This popped out of a seemly quiet bush after a ten minute wait. This was a bonus for me as Pied Flycatcher is one of the species I would probably see, but can't guarantee I will see it for the Studland/Ballard Patch Year List. It stayed for two days, but was never easy to see in the open for long. I'm clearly going to have to try Graham's strategy more often. South Haven (7 Aug 15)

I was thinking we should move on, when Graham called out Hippolais, fully in the open. The only problem was there was a mass of bushes & I couldn't see anything. After ten or fifteen seconds, I saw a Warbler flit left & dive into a bush: that was it & all I saw was it was probably a Warbler. It then flicked up & over the top of the bush & was gone. Nothing else moved, so that must have been it disappearing out of sight. After several minutes of waiting, it had not reappearing, so Graham decided to try twenty metres further left. Soon after a whistle, but it had gone before I got there. At this stage, it was a definite Hippolais & presumed Melodious (as that is the commoner Dorset species), but on both occasions it had been head on for Graham. After two hours of searching, we hadn't seen it again. Had it gone? I was getting more frustrated as this is a Poole Harbour rarity & I still hadn't got the bins on it: so it obviously couldn't go near my list. Then fortunately, I relocated it close to where Graham had seen it the second time. This time it was only me who got onto it, as Graham was about eighty metres away. My views were brief, but good enough to confirm I had seen my first Melodious Warbler or Icterine Warbler in Poole Harbour. On both sightings, I quickly dropped the bins & tried to get the 7D onto it. But on both occasions, it had already moved back into cover. Soon after that, Graham had a side view which indicated it was probably a Melodious Warbler. Then another hour went by with no more sightings & Graham decided to leave. As he left local Studland Birder, Steve Morrison, arrived. When we had seen it, it seemed to be associating with a mixed Warbler flock. But the Willow Warblers & Garden Warblers had disappeared again. Steve & I spread out to look for the flock. Steve found a Warbler flock along the edge of the pool which also had a family of Blue Tits with it. Was it the same flock as they hadn't been around earlier. It seemed the Blue Tits had joined the flock as Steve had just seen the Hippolais. I joined Steve & we both had views on & off over the next twenty minutes. I had a couple of good views of the wing & could see it was short winged. Strictly, one of the main features for separating Melodious and Icterine Warblers is the primary extension (the distance the primaries project beyond the tertials), but with this wing length, the primary projection was clearly wrong for an Icky. But frustratingly it had moved back into cover before I could accurately assess the primary projection. Still I was happy it was a Melodious Warbler on the views I had seen.

Melodious Warbler: A record shot from Steve Morrison (who has kindly allowed me to publish the photo & retains copyright)

Soon after the flock disappeared & we assumed it had crossed over to the far side of the South Haven pool. By this time we had been joined by Mark & Mo Constantine & Paul Morton. We tried the bushes along the edge of the car park, but I never managed to get onto it again. The flock seemed to move away from the boardwalk & we lost it. Eventually, after over ten hours in the field at South Haven, I decided to call it a day. A quick look at Brands Bay & I was off home for dinner (having missed out lunch completely). There are only a handful of previous Poole Harbour records & nearly all have been at Studland or Ballard Down. I believe only one of these individuals was twitchable. So it was a really good Bird to see on the patch. It brings my Poole Harbour List to 260 & Studland/Ballard List to 217 (not counting a heard Nightingale).

Graham was also talking up Middlebere as where a Black Stork would be if one of the recent arrivals appeared in Dorset. That was three days before one was seen there at the weekend. I will now try & convince Graham about being more adventurous in his predictions: maybe White's Thrush or Siberian Thrush for the South Haven Thrush season.

29 Aug 14 - Crucial Imminent Vote For Scottish Birders

In under 3 weeks, there will be a crucial vote for all Scottish Birders. Scottish Birders will be asked to decide "Do You Wish Your List To Become Independent From The UK". This post can now reveal for the first time some of the real facts behind the Yes campaign.

The date for this crucial referendum has been chosen with great care by the Yes campaign. They have gone back & scoured history & selected the key date of 18 Sept for it's historical significance. There has been a lot of speculation in the press, about it being on the anniversary of some big battle. That is just coincidence. This blog can now reveal the true significance of the 18 Sept. It is only 5 days after the only UK Hawk Owl in living memory was found on 12 Sept 83 near Lerwick (and 4 days after it disappeared). The Referendum was chosen to celebrate the day the Bressay finders planned to go birding a couple of days later & were lucky to relocated it on Bressay. The historical significance of this date is therefore obvious. Some of the key people behind the Yes campaign managed to twitch this bird on Bressay & grip it back on those who got to see it near Lerwick. The subliminal message is also clear: it was there on the 18 Sept, but it was not actually seen on that date. So if you live South of the border, you will be denied to get this on your UK list, when the next one turns up in Shetlands. Also if you did see it, you will have it removed as it will no longer be in the UK.

Hawk Owl: Will we ever get another chance to tick in the UK: if there is a Yes vote it seems unlikely. Zwolle, Holland (29 Nov 13) 

The timing of the vote has a second significance. The date is also just before the start of the main Shetlands & Fair Isle Birding season. In recent years, Birders have headed to the Shetlands & Fair Isle from mid September onwards from all over the UK. A Yes vote might seem appealing. After all, if Scotland becomes independent, then the UK birders won't be allowed to tick Birds in Scotland. So most will stop going & be forced to return to the traditional old haunts of the Scillies & West Cornwall.  Perhaps Lundy (the site of a number of Firsts for the UK) will again become popular. So it would seem appealing to a Scottish voter to vote Yes. After all, it will be easier to make a booking on Fair Isle or get a seat on a plane there, if there are only Scottish twitchers trying to get there. Also, a Yes vote will appear to provide a greater chance of a self found Scottish mega. But with the loss of all those English Birder's eyes covering the Shetlands & Fair Isle, maybe less rarities will be found. It would bring a premature end to the Shetlands tourist season & maybe the Fair Isle Bird Obs will have trouble filling its accommodation with purely Scottish Birders through the year & would run the risk of eventual closure. So some big potential home goals by voting Yes, but the Yes campaign have stayed silent on these risks.

Cape May Warbler: Would as many birds of this calibre be found with a reduced coverage of Birders in the field following a Yes vote? Baltasound, Unst (29 Oct 13)

But again the Yes campaigners are not telling the Scottish Birders the full picture. They talk about the positives of keeping the Scottish Birds for Scottish Birders. Of how only the Scottish Birders will be able to tick species like Capercaillie, Ptarmigan, genuine Rock Dove & Crested Tit.

Rock Dove: It would be no longer possible for UK Birders to tick Rock Doves looking like this. The Yes campaign want this kept only for Scottish Birders. Instead, UK Birders will be left desperately trying to find a pure looking individual in Trafalgar Square (having had to take the whole family there as a cover story) or perhaps hoping for a lone, clean-looking Racing Pigeon to flyby at a coastal site (& hoping no questions are asked). Sollas, South Uist (4 June 12)

But what the Yes campaigners are not being honest about is the Yes campaign plan to strike off all those birds Scottish Birders have seen in England or Wales. This is their secret plan, which they managed to avoid being mentioned so far. Amazingly, it was not discussed in the recent TV debates. Today, a Scottish based Birder could book a week's holiday & head South for some easy English specialities ticks: such as Yellow-legged Gulls, Melodious Warblers & Ortolans. All of which could be fairly easily seen with a week's stay about this time of year at Portland Bird Observatory and all of which are currently tickable. If we hear a sudden appearance increase in the numbers of Scottish accents around Portland in the coming weeks, we will know that Birders living North of the border are getting these easy ticks in while they can (as they fear a Yes vote). But it will all be in vain, a Yes vote will mean all of your lists will be purged of these species. This blog has it on good authority, that Lee "Good" Heavens has already been provisionally booked to police the purges of the Scottish Birders lists. This blog understands that controversially, part of the payment for this work, is the agreement that he will be allowed to join (& remain) in the top 10 Scottish listers following the completion of these purges.

Short-toed Eagle: In the event of a Yes vote, this will be struck off your list if you saw the Scillies bird or this year's bird in Dorset or Sussex. If you saw it in Hampshire, then prehaps you should be honest & quietly change it to a Buzzard in your notebook. The Yes campaigners are hoping to attract the votes of those people that appear on Birdforum to add useful quotes to the thread of the latest UK mega to say "they would never go beyond the end of their road to see the bird". Morden Bog (31 May 14)

Yellow-legged Gull: This rare English breeding bird only breeds at a handful of sites in Southern England, but is fairly easily seen in Poole Harbour at this time of year. There have only been a handful of Scottish records this year. Scottish Birders will be forced to work hard to add this to their lists in the event of a Yes vote purging them of one seen South of the border. Brands Bay (21 April 14)

Melodious Warbler: Portland is one of the best locations for this species. With an average of only one or two a year in Scotland, this is a species you might end having to twitch an outer island to see after a Yes vote. Winspit (8 Dec 13)

Cirl Bunting: A bird most Scottish Birders will lose off their lists. With only 3 island records this millennium, this is very likely to be purged from Scottish Lists by Lee "Good" Heavens. It is likely to the first lost in a series as the Policeman, as he likes to be know, removes all the birds ticked on those old Scillies trips. Velji Do, Croatia (5 May 14)

Ortolan: Again Portland is one of the best UK locations for this species & the Yes campaign will purge this off your list if you have seen it there. It is likely to be a costly Fair Isle twitch to tick this one if the Yes campaign get their way. Yotvata, Israel (11 April 14)

So now the truth is being revealed about the real risks to your lists in the event of a Yes vote, then it is clear there are only 2 real options: Vote No or in the event of a Yes vote, move to Fair Isle.

8 Dec 13 - A December Hippo

A couple of days ago, I got a phone call from local Birder, Peter Williams, about a Hippo in Winspit. Peter was referring to a Hippolais Warbler, either a Melodious or an Icterine Warbler. Both are scarce migrants in Dorset, usually in August & Portland is about the best place in the UK to see a Melodious Warbler, but even then, there are only a handful of records each year. Icterine Warblers are less common still in Dorset, but are more regular on the East Coast. Away from Portland, both are even rarer in Dorset.

I wasn't able to get down that afternoon, but Nick Hopper could. Nick & Peter both watched it that afternoon & they confirmed it was a Melodious Warbler. This is probably one of the latest ever records in the UK. I wasn't able to try looking for it till this afternoon, but with the sun out, decided to give it a try.

A Hippo was almost as unlikely as a UK December Hippolais Warbler: Note, the African Pied Wagtail enjoying the ride & flies (photo from my first Kenya trip in 1987)

After missing it on a couple of occasions as it moved up & down the valley this afternoon, I finally heard it was on view again in late afternoon. By the time I got there, it had gone to ground again, but a few minutes later, I picked it on in a bush on the far slope. Fortunately, it stayed on view on & off over the next 5 minutes or so & allowed me to fire off some photos. Whilst I'm not going to win any prizes for the photos, they do confirm the identification.

Melodious Warbler

Melodious Warbler: This blow up shows the short primary extension (the length of the exposed primaries beyond the secondaries) which are 1/4 - 1/5 of the overall wing length in Melodious (about 1/3 in Icterine). It also shows the bare faced appearance, long orangey bill & general colouration