MEGA ALERT: The SPECTACLED WARBLER in Norfolk - Part Two

SPECTACLED WARBLER (male)
Burnham Overy Dunes, Norfolk - June 2014
Photo by Dave Hutton

My second trip to Norfolk for the singing male SPECTACLED WARBLER involved Dave Hutton, who still needed the species in Britain and Jules Allen, who had already seen two before. The fine folks at the Met Office predicted a stormy looking front that was due to hit North Norfolk during late morning, so an early start was the order of the day.

We set off from Nuneaton just before 4.00am and at around 6.30am we were already safely parked up at Burnham Overy. The day had already started well with a Barn Owl perched up at the roadside near Stanhoe as well as a small group of feral Helmeted Guineafowl, a UK400 Club tick anyone? As we made our way down towards the dunes a pair of Little Tern showed very well feeding around the pools near the footpath and a Munjac Deer was causing panic amongst the nesting Redshank out on the salt marsh.

The SPECTACLED WARBLER twitch!
Burnham Overy Dunes, Norfolk.
Photo by Adam Archer

As we approached the site it was evident that the bird was not favouring the same area as I had seen it earlier on in the week. It was now favouring a broad strip of suaeda between the dunes and the marsh, slightly closer towards the boardwalk. Within a few seconds the SPECTACLED WARBLER appeared as it darted back and forth amongst the vegetation. Upon closer inspection you could see that the bird was busy collecting bits of nesting material and taking them back to same location time and time again. This assisted Dave in obtaining a collection of fine quality photographs, a few of which you can see here.

SPECTACLED WARBLER (male)
Burnham Overy Dunes, Norfolk - June 2014
Photo by Dave Hutton

Although the handsome sylvia warbler showed very well just a few yards away, the views of it perched up in the open were always quite brief. This was in total contrast to how it had behaved on my initial visit. The bird obviously did not want to attract too much intention to the work of art it was busily constructing hidden amongst the suaeda. It would occasionally take a break from its duties to scratch out a few verses of song but once again these tended to be rather brief. After a few hours of admiring the bird you could see the front of wet weather quickly approaching from the west. As the sound of thunder rubbled in the distance it was time to make a move. 

As we made our way back to the car a Spoonbill flew overhead heading west and the same pair of Little Tern were still noisily going about their business along the footpath. We managed to get back in time and avoid a thorough soaking and decided to take shelter in the cafe at Titchwell RSPB for a while.

SPECTACLED WARBLER (male)
Burnham Overy Dunes, Norfolk - June 2014
Photo by Dave Hutton

SPECTACLED WARBLER (nest building male)
Burnham Overy Dunes, Norfolk - June 2014
Photo by Dave Hutton

SPECTACLED WARBLER (nest building male)
Burnham Overy Dunes, Norfolk - June 2014
Photo by Dave Hutton

After a quick bite to eat and a chat to the patio-building Gooner himself, Garry Bagnell we decided to brave the elements and make our way down toward the hides. Titchwell is always a good bet for padding out your day list with a few decent species and today was no exception. Out of the fresh marsh the highlights were a trio of feral Barnacle Geese, a drake Garganey, a summer-plumaged Spotted Redshank, a couple of Greenshank and a first-summer Little Gull. The more usual suspects included a single Little Ringed Plover, 20 Ringed Plover, a Turnstone, a few Bar-tailed Godwit and impressive total of 195 Black-tailed Godwit.

Back along the footpath we dipped out on a distant first-summer male Montagu's Harrier out towards Holme but we did see a few Marsh Harriers around the reserve. Another interesting sighting was a female Red-crested Pochard with a brood of five recently hatched ducklings. There were also at least three drake Red-crested Pochard on site too.

Before heading back to the Midlands we made the short journey up to Choseley drying barns where a Turtle Dove had been reported earlier on in the day. Unfortunately we did not connect with this rapidly declining species but it was great to see a few other fast disappearing farmland birds like Grey Partridge, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting.

The SPECTACLED WARBLER in Britain

This species is usually a speciality of southern Europe at this time of the year. The breeding distribution is centred on the Mediterranean with two populations. The nominate race conspicillata breeds from Iberia and North Africa east across to Italy and Libya. Another population occurs in Cyprus, Levant, Israel, Jordan and possibly parts of southern and western Turkey. The wintering areas of the species is poorly known but appears to be concentrated in an area around Senegal, south-western Mauritania, south-eastern Algeria and northern Niger. As this is a relatively short-range migrant the occurrence of SPECTACLED WARBLER is understandably rare in northern Europe.

If accepted this will be just the eighth record of the species for Britain. There have been no acceptable records for Ireland. All previous records are as follows:

2011 - Hampshire - Needs Ore Point - adult male from 29th to 30th October.
2011 - Norfolk - Scolt Head - singing male on 6th May only.
2008 - Suffolk - Westleton Heath - singing first-summer male on 10th May only.
2000 - Isles of Scilly - Tresco - first-winter from 15th to 21st October.
1999 - Devon - Roborough Down near Clearbrook - singing first-summer male from 3rd to 6th June.
1997 - Suffolk - Landguard - male from 26th April to 2nd May.
1992 - Yorkshire - Filey - singing male from 24th to 29th May.

All our records are thought to involve the nominate race conspicillata as the race orbitalis is a non-migratory resident of Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands.

Here are some excellent recordings of the Norfolk SPECTACLED WARBLER by Ashley Banwell:

The RED-BACKED SHRIKE in Warwickshire

Red-backed Shrike (adult male)
Ladywalk NR, Warwickshire.
Photo by Dave Hutton

At lunchtime this afternoon a stunning adult male Red-backed Shrike was discovered at Ladywalk Nature Reserve, just a short distance from where I live. It was a nervous wait until I could get myself on site and just as I did this huge County rarity did the inevitable, it flew off. It was thought to have crossed the River Tame and head towards the edge of Whitacre Heath Nature Reserve where there was plenty of suitable habitat for a hungry shrike to disappear into. Luckily though, it was picked up once again as it perched in a distant hawthorn. Satisfactory scope views were enjoyed until it was mobbed by a pair of Reed Bunting and off it flew once again.

A few lucky Warwickshire birders celebrate a new 'County tick'!
Photo by Adam Archer

After a period of disappearance I wondered whether it could have returned to its original site around the decaying tree stumps in front of Bittern Hide. It was certainly worth a try. No sooner had I sat down in the hide and lifted the flap than there it was, one of the most handsome birds you could wish to see in Britain. I quickly called Steve Cawthary with the positive news and soon enough more eager Warwickshire birders had crammed into the hide and added this much sought after species to their County list.

Red-backed Shrike (adult male) - Ladywalk NR, Warwickshire.
Photo by Dave Hutton

Remarkably this is the first twitchable Red-backed Shrike in Warwickshire in modern times. Another male was spotted at Bermuda way back on the 10th August 1983 whilst there have been two, brief single-observer records in North Warwickshire in recent years. A first-winter bird was reported from Birchmoor on the 6th November 2003, followed by a juvenile at Alvecote Pools on the evening of the 12th September 2005. Coincidently both of these recent sightings were by the very same observer.

Red-backed Shrike (adult male)
Ladywalk NR, Warwickshire
Photo by Adam Archer

It is amazing to think that just over a century ago this species was far from uncommon in the County. In 1903 one gentleman counted no less than a dozen birds along just twelve kilometres of roads around Stratford-upon-Avon. The last confirmed breeding pair in Warwickshire was at Lillington in 1960.

MEGA ALERT: The SPECTACLED WARBLER in Norfolk - Part One

Burnham Overy Marshes, Norfolk.
Photo by Adam Archer

A couple of trips were required for this southern European sylvia warbler. It was not because I dipped in the first instance though, it was purely down to sheer greediness. On the initial trip, Phil Andrews and I sped over to Norfolk after work. It was a pretty nerve jangling few hours though bearing in mind the bird had flown off a couple of times over the course of the day and infrequent reports were coming through that it was becoming rather elusive.

Anyway we need not of worried. As we undertook the long stroll down to the dunes we bumped into Leicestershire birder Colin Green who instantly put our mind at ease. The rarity had been showing well on and off whilst he was there earlier. It certainly put a bit of spring back into our step for the final part of our hike.

Birders at Burnham Overy Dunes, Norfolk
Photo by Adam Archer

After a short wait in the early evening sunshine out popped a male SPECTACLED WARBLER from amongst the scrub. Although quite mobile it would often sit stationary for long periods while it belted out its scratchy song. The dozen or so birders on site were extremely well behaved and made sure the bird was given enough space to go about its business in trying to attract a female. Considering there have only been seven previous British records of this species I do not really fancy its chances! 

Whilst studying the bird and making a note of all the relevant identification features Phil announced that there was a singing BLYTH'S REED WARBLER across at Cley village. Having never heard this species in song before we decided to spend a while longer at Burnham Overy before heading the few miles further east. As we walked back to the car the air was filled with the song of Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Sedge Warbler and I also spotted my first Painted Lady butterfly of the year along the track. It is very hard to tear yourself away from the north Norfolk coast at this time of year but with daylight running out we unfortunately had no alternative.

Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk.
Photo by Adam Archer

After a short drive we found ourselves just west of Cley-next-the-Sea perched above the A149 peering into a few roadside willows. We were all concentrating so hard in attempt to pick up a slight bit of movement within the undergrowth that nobody in the crowd detected a BLACK STORK flying behind us. It had somehow drifted by as it made its way across from Thornham to Kelling. At that point we lost a portion of the crowd as they chased a potential addition to their Norfolk list but Phil and I decided to stay put.

After a patient wait we eventually had a couple of brief views of a skulking, washed out looking Acrocephalus warbler. It  had to be the BLYTH'S REED WARBLER however there was no way a certain identification could be clinched before it disappeared again. A few moments later though, as the sun began to go down the bird began to sing just a few yards away. Unfortunately the bird remained hidden at all times with only the tantalising movement of a grass stem giving away its presence. 

The song itself was like nothing I had heard before but was very distinctive indeed. It was a mostly a pretty relaxed evenly paced series of repeated notes and phrases, a lot less hectic than that of Marsh Warbler. Like that species however the song did contain the odd bit of mimicry with Swallow, Blackbird, Goldfinch and even Quail detected. It really was one of those songs you could listen to all night even with the constant traffic streaming past. It was a fantastic end to another memorable trip to Norfolk.

Here is an excellent recording of a singing male BLYTH'S REED WARBLER from Poland:

Please see MEGA ALERT: The SPECTACLED WARBLER in Norfolk - Part Two for some stunning photographs of the bird by Dave Hutton.