Monday 9 June 2014

Walberswick Savi's Warbler

Yesterday Sunday 9th June at 7pm in the evening I drove to the Walberswick Hoist Covert car park and walked out to the mill, joining Dave H and several others looking from the path just north of the mill looking over the reeds. I heard hear snatching of the buzzing call as I walked up. One bloke arrived and said he could see the bird perched up on the dead reeds at the back, we couldn't see it. A newly arrived Alison & Chris A and we saw good views of an immature 3 Bearded Tits by a nearby dyke. Looking out to the beach area, a fenced off area and there were 5 fine Little Terns flying around, great to see them. I made up my mind to explore down the path extending westwards, Chris joined me and we walked down to the ridge path at the end. We looked but couldn't see the Savi's only hearing it occasionally very distantly. We looked at Reed and Sedge Warblers, one a piece and heard a distant Cuckoo. At around 8pm we decided to walk back and 100 yards from the mill we looked across a large cut reed area and could hear the buzzing clearly, I spotted a bird perched up a third of the way from the top it was brown with a very thick tail, extending out at the middle tips of the feathers. It was moving its head from side to side, it was the excellent Savi's Warbler. It then disappeared it had flown across east past the cut area and at reeds further back near a single birch tree. Chris refund the bird and having rung the others, we enjoyed almost continuous views of the bird singing from near the top of the reeds again the really thick tail was clearly seen, it turned around and showed its whitish throat pale buff on the breast long bill moving from side to side as it called its distinctive buzzing call. You could spot the bird more easily through the bins rather than the scope and sometimes it was obscured by reeds just in front. A Grasshopper Warbler started reeling the other side too.

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