Unseasonable...

Just after leaving the main car park on Holy Island this morning, I heard an unfamiliar song coming from close by. We quickly located the bird in question, and initial views were of a phyllosc that we thought had just one wingbar and a broad supercilium, which made us think we were watching a Greenish Warbler.

However, as the bird started to show better and sing more, we could see the start of a second wingbar, a hint of pale edges to the tertials and could better appreciate it's compact shape. We were now pretty sure we had found a singing Yellow-browed. Eventually, and after receving some helpful comments online, it started to give the classic call of a Yellow-browed Warbler. Perhaps not quite as exciting as finding a Greenish, but we were still quite pleased, as we were told it was just the third spring record in the county!

A flog around the rest of the island didn't produce anything quite as exctiting, but still a nice mix of common migrants...

7 Spotted Flycatcher
7 Willow Warbler
1 Lesser Whitethroat
1 Tree Pipit
2 Chiffchaff
1 Ring Ouzel
2 Wheatear
1 Fieldfare
1 Blackcap

Hopefully a few more blog posts over the next few days, including the stunning Citrine Wagtail at Lynemouth and our last two days on Mallorca...

Yellow-browed Warbler

Spotted Flycatcher