18th February 2014 - Topsham
On the 29th January Steve Waite emailed to tell me of a report of a Yellow-browed Warbler seen at the Rec -
edit: I can now say that it was found by Stuart Green (see below); a good find and thanks to Steve for passing it on. I spent a good two hours the next day looking and listening but drew a blank. Three weeks later I was doing my daily round and paused at the end of the field to see if the Black Redstart was still around (it wasn't), from behind me I heard a thin but insistent 'tse-
weet' - it's a pretty unmistakeable call but before any doubts set in I picked up the bird moving through a magnolia just behind the hedge. Normally I hate looking into gardens for birds and it's even worse pointing a camera but sometimes I make exceptions.
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| Yellow-browed Warbler - Topsham 18/2/2014 |
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| Yellow-browed Warbler - Topsham 18/2/2014 |
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| Yellow-browed Warbler - Topsham 18/2/2014 |
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| Yellow-browed Warbler - Topsham 18/2/2014 | |
I'm surprised I got anything even remotely in focus - it moved constantly and the autofocus was confused by the intervening branches.
I've been at The Rec nearly every day this winter and looked hard for this bird since it was first reported. If it had been around I think I'd have seen or heard it - I don't tend to look into the gardens too much but a calling Yellow-browed is hard to miss. So where's it been? There's a lot of gardens nearby so maybe it frequents somewhere else and drops by the river only occasionally; apart from seeing it again an hour later, I haven't had a sniff of it since. The Black Redstart did something similar, first seen in early December - I was at the wrong end of The Rec at the time - then absent until 31st and present almost constantly until early February at least.
Meanwhile, the search for an interesting gull continues; for the first time in ages afternoon low tide and near normal water levels coincide with an overcast dry day - perfect Rec gull viewing conditions.
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| LWHG - Topsham Rec 19/2/2014 |
Not the hundreds sometimes present but a big improvement on recent weeks. At least a few dozen Herring with 4 Greater Black-backed and 6 Lesser Black-backed - there's been only one around over the last couple of months so presumably this is the start of a spring movement? White-winger expected any day now.
Hi Tim. I'm glad you finally have caught up with the yellow browed warbler since I reported seeing it on the 29th January, I was quite excited at finding it and a bit disappointed that no-one else had seen it since.
ReplyDeleteCoincidently, I met you at the Topsham Rec back on 13th December when you pointed out the water pipit to me before leaving and I subsequently saw the black redstart in the trees towards the community centre.
Hi Stuart, I'm glad to finally catch up with it - a nice bird and a good find, well done. Heard it again this afternoon but further along the gardens nearer the entrance, maybe that's where it normally feeds which could account for me not finding it sooner as I normally stick to the river bank. Interesting that you saw the Black Redstart further down as that's another place I don't look - can't take my dog in there - and it took me until 31st December to see that, when it started to frequent the shoreline further up river.
ReplyDeleteHi Tim - really like your YBW shots. I've never had any success photographing them - really really difficult. Loved your photos of WF storm petrels too especially the bottom shot - unbelievable. They are a species I would dearly love to see. You must have been so chuffed to capture those images!
ReplyDeleteHi Matt and thanks, not sure I'd call the YBW photos that successful though, just about satisfactory maybe and at least the bird's recognisable! Glad you liked the WF Stormies - brilliant birds and actually quite easy to get shots of from the Madeira Windbirds boat, even with my equipment and competence. I really recommend the trip, it's a fantastic experience and you get very close and often prolonged views of the birds - Caterina and Hugo really know what they're doing.
ReplyDeleteI like the YBW photos because that's how you see em! I actually prefer to see photos of birds in their settings. Pin sharp frame-fillers don't do it for me because you rarely see the birds like that. Some cameras are so good nowadays that you lose that sense of place if that makes sense. Your YBW shots are evocative and more gripping than if the bird had obliged by staying still.
ReplyDeleteEvocative - thanks, I like that. Maybe I should start a new 'evocative' folder for shots I normally bin? Anyway, glad you like them as I'm sure you realise I don't do 'pin-sharp frame-fillers'!
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