Wood You Believe It?

I do love Wanstead.  A migrant hot-spot within walking distance, what's not to love? Sure, it's probably one of the high causes as to why my patch produces oh so little, but I really can't complain. It's like a second patch almost, but with the twist that it's actually quite good.  Last year Wanstead got a Blyth's Reed Warbler, I got a Gadwall.  You see what I'm getting at?  Maybe I should just make a permanent transition of my patch... I'd probably end up missing the Squirrels.
 The routine morning check of Twitter showed once again that the dedicated Wanstead crew had another great find, a Wood Warbler.  A rare bird in London, and perhaps another site mega.  As soon as breakfast was eaten we were off.
 Half-an-hour later we arrived to the news it was still there, and to hear it a second or so later.  It seemed it would be that kind of a day. Turn up, see it, done. That joy was not to be. Try it more like this: turn up, hear it, search for ages, hear it again. Despite it tormenting singing with some regularity, it just didn't seem to fancy being seen. A Garden Warbler early on was our only consolation. It made one think fondly of finding a Cetti's Warbler.
 After three hours of canopy staring, it's trill finally began to come from lower down.  After a slightly tense few minutes where it managed to hide in a small patch of branches a small bird flew to the left into an Oak, where it finally showed, revealing that stunning yellowness of a Wood Warbler! Whoo, what a weight off the shoulders!  It showed for a good thirty or so seconds, so I managed to grab a couple of record shots before it disappeared.  Incredible bird, worth the wait.  It probably would have been quicker to go to Wales...

Elementary, dear Warbler

This Autumn has been filled with Yellow-browed Warblers, none of which had been seen by me. In my defence there had been few locally, well, none. They are somewhat of a London rarity, with the majority on the East coast. At the weekend, with one in Regent's Park for a couple of days, I thought it a good opportunity to join in with the Autumn fun. The warbler thought otherwise and... I dipped.  Must I concede and wait until next year?  I'd hoped not. Fast-forward to Friday, and it was still there after eight days.  What to do?  You guessed it.  After a 'joyous' hour on public transport it was into the bustling crowds of Baker Street, past the house of the great detective, before the relative calm of the park. A group of birders were already there, the little warbler wasn't... yet.  Although it had been seen, it was being elusive and not very vocal. With a bird of its miniature proportions it was going to be tricky to get.  But that's the fun of birding, isn't it? The wait was actually not too long, before we were called over to catch the silhouette of a YBW.  It vanished for a few minutes, before I managed to relocate it in a dense thicket.  This time it showed off (however briefly) its strongly marked wingbar and eyebrow. A stunning little Siberian migrant.  It even called a couple of times.. what a gem!   Autumn birding's now complete.

It didn't really pose for its shot, can you tell?

Oh, in other news I've upgraded my lens (so this shot really isn't a good start), but more on that later.  I'll just leave you with this Heron...

Pitch and Patch

I must say that today I was, for the first time in quite a while impressed by the patch. An aim to beat the patch day record of thirty seven didn't succeed, only off by three.  That's with some extremely obvious ones missing, Greylag Goose being one...that's the way it goes I suppose.  Today was a little bit more about quality than quantity.  Well, quality for the patch.  There's a big difference.
 A singing Coal Tit sparked things off, it being my first ever record away from winter.  Juvenile Goldcrest, Great-spotted Woodpecker and then a patch year-tick in the form of a Jay.  The old Pitch and Putt course held the real gem though, a Willow Warbler.  Surprisingly a patch first for me. Well, perhaps not so surprising if you consider that this was my first for the year.  Why it took so long I don't know.

So that, coupled with three year-ticks at Rainham yesterday, I think we can safely call the slump off.... for now.

It's a fun Hobby

More warblers at Wanstead Flats, with a Garden Warbler around for the last week it didn't seem in a hurry to go anywhere.  So a quick trip on Sunday was... well surprisingly more successful than I had expected.  My first House Martin and Swift of the year wasn't too poor a start as we headed into the 'brooms' to look for Whinchat. That drew a blank, but a Hobby flying past was rather a surprise.  It showed again and much better this time as we headed to look for the Garden Warbler.  Not the usual setting to see one!

 The Garden Warbler was easy enough to find, its constant singing gave it away just a bit.  It didn't show too badly either.  Admittedly yes, it showed terribly for a photo, but it gave nice, reasonably close views....