Alan Shorrock and I made a return trip to Ecton this morning for another look at the Siberian Chiffchaffs. It was certainly a lot milder than it was on our previous visit which resulted in there being less birds on view but with just the occasional sunny spell the light quality was more helpful for trying to separate Sibe Chiffies from their commoner cousins, we managed to find one in amongst about twenty of its relatives. This week's individual was a grey looking, dark legged bird with some green on its folded flight feathers and on its tail. The bird was not very vocal but close observation suggests that Sibes don't pump their tails as frequently as Common Chiffchaffs do.
 |
| Siberian Chiffchaff |
Away from the Chiffies there was once again an obliging Cetti's Warbler which showed very well on occasion. A Kingfisher paid only a brief visit and a Water Rail was heard calling while there was also a Green Sandpiper present. We were watching the Chiffs when a Raven passed by treating us to a display of aerobatics, this is their time of the year for displaying. Several Grey Wagtails were also noted but there were no repeat viewings of Jack Snipe sadly.
 |
| Cetti's Warbler. |
From Ecton we called in at Ravensthorpe Reservoir to have a look for the female Ring-necked Duck that's been here for a day or two. With the help of another birder we managed to find her and enjoyed some fairly distant though good views. After about three quarters of an hour we decided to call it quits and packed up for the day.
 |
| Ring-necked Duck |
No comments:
Post a Comment