Sunday 16 August 2020

Shrike, Wood & Greenish Warbler!

On Sunday 16th August, on another murky day & after doing the local patch yesterday I was keen to twitch to see the RB Shrike at Southwold, by 8.30am I walking 100 yards south past the water tower and joined the 5 or so people looking for the Shrike, it wasn't about but after 15 minutes, I was beckoned over to an area exactly 50 yards to the north of the water tower and bordering the golf course, the excellent immature Red- backed Shrike was seen perched in a bush, it soon flew to another one and then flew east a little way into another bush. It then disappeared and it was only when Brian S appeared half an hour later that he picked it up in this same area, we got some reasonable distant view until and an orange-topped birder walked far too close and flushed it to the Willow Herbs, where standing near the green, Brian S said we might get some views, standing there was quite hazardous as 3 golf balls landed barely feet away from me! I thought golfers were supposed to shout "fore" when someone was in their line of fire??! The bird did show here albeit quite obscured, but when I walked around to the road, I got my closest views the bird was perched on an arched bramble twig, where sadly within seconds, it soon flew off. It then flew off to the Pitstop cafe, where I saw it preached up in silhouette behind the cafe and in the Dell, I saw a Coal Tit perched on a bush. I as about to leave but seeing Paul & Jane F, I knew the bird start to be more confine and when Nick Andrews tweeted it was near the golf club entrance such enough we had prolong if slighlty distant views of it sitting in a couple of bushes, I think I'll call it half- Ferguson views! Back home another tweet from James W and I drove to the car park by the old Dip farm Pitch and Putt and join them in the wooded northern end of the track James W, Andrew E and James B had just seen the bird 3 minutes ago. After half an hour, James W and we had great view of the bird with olive green upper part lemon yellow breast and silky white underparts a really stunning bird. Paul & jane F soon joined us and the bird appeared again in the trees to the west of the track again fairly high up showing reasonably well. Rob Will and OFB arrived as soon as they did we heard a bird calling a high pitched "tssee" 8X it was a Greenish warbler call!!! Calling from the wooded copse just east of the North bushes Gunton ORT. Try as I might I didn't see the bird, although Rob Will did see it x2 However, we did see a Pied Flycatcher at the end of the rail track plus a family of Blackcaps, adult male and 2 female types/ immatures. The Wood Warbler again showed a third time this time we were joined by Ali R and others.

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