Sunday, 9 February 2014

Hurtle for a Myrtle

I couldn't resist twitching the Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler in Co. Durham today - unfortunately I had to travel on my own, but it was worth it; only my third American wood warbler, after a Blackpoll at Bewl Water back in 1994 (when I was 14...) and the Welsh Yellowthroat in 2012 . 

The bird showed fairly well during my time on site, coming to fat-filled coconut shells in a hedge on the estate. These were a quite low down so many of the views were obscured through vegetation, but the bird would sometimes pop up higher, occasionally perching up in the trees for periods. It was a very pretty little thing, and my pictures certainly don't do it justice (compared to what others managed); not helped by the fact that my autofocus really seemed to be struggling today - several times I thought I had a nice clear shot, pressed the shutter... and my camera refused to take a picture - very annoying. It was quite a chunky thing, especially in flight, and whilst it was bossed by the local Robin, it chased off the Great and Blue Tits several times, flashing its yellow rump and white tail corners in flight.









Anyway, all in all a good day. I didn't see the Waxwings, but did speak to a couple of the locals who were obviously bemused by what was going on (although I have to say that it was a well behaved twitch), and also bumped into several other Notts birders. 


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