A little gem!

Myself, Carl, and Paul French successfully twitched the Common Yellowthroat at Rhiwderin in Gwent today. When we arrived at the site, a crescent of around 120 people were gathered around a small isolated patch of brambles, but it remained well hidden and we could only managed a brief and unsatisfactory view before it flew a short distance across to a larger patch of bramble next to a hedge.

We spent several hours at the site in order to secure better views - the bird was extremely skulking, spending most of its time buried deep in the bramble. However, we'd picked a good spot to set up our scopes, and it appeared in front of us three times during during our stay, two of which allowed decent views as it fed on the ground under the edge of the bramble just in front of us.

Its short flights were often preceded by calling (a stabby 'pick'), and once, it flew up into the top of the bramble, giving great unobscured views (but only for a few seconds). After one particularly prolonged disappearance, someone played a recording of Yellowthroat calls and song (after checking that no-one had any objections) - it's reaction was instant, flying straight out of the bramble, but diving into the small bramble patch it had been in when we arrived.

Despite the rather obscured views (and generally Dunnock-like behaviour - I'm still amazed that it was ever found!), it was a fantastic bird, bright yellow on its throat with a blackish mask (with a grey upper border), lemony undertail coverts and mossy-green upperparts, hopping around with it's tail cocked and constantly on the move. Unfortunately, I couldn't manage a picture of it, but Paul took some video, and has furnished me with a video-grab (see http://nomadbirder.com/2012/02/25/yellowthroat/ for more).

Yellowthroat! A fairly typical view... Taken by Paul French.



Where's the bird?



Paps