Dorset Dipper: What's that bird #2

Thursday, July 21, 2016

What's that bird #2 - Hatfield Forest.

another one in a series of birding fiascos. Returning to the car at Hatfield Forest I heard a song I couldn't quite place. Blackcap? Song Thrush? If it's one of those two why am I not sure what it is? Out comes the phone and here's another very crap recording. All the action is in the last 10 seconds.

On getting home I went on to Xeno Canto and after some searching and got a match. Icterine Warbler! So that's another occasion when I could have made a decent recording, even seen the bird, and didn't.

I've been back twice since then, and today on the second trip found a bird giving pretty much the same song at the same place. Here's a second, better recording.

Finally I located the bush the song was coming from, saw a twitch in the leaves, and there it was, a ... well the answer is at the bottom of this post.

I've spent a few hours in the Forest as you can imagine, and apart from the usual woodland birds (Nuthatch, Garden Warbler, Great-Spotted Woodpecker, Buzzard), saw Spotted Flycatcher - three minimum with at least one juvenile, and also a couple of Marsh Tits. I saw two female Purple Emperors, 7 Silver Washed Fritillaries, and some Purple Hairstreaks. I've finally got my eye in on the Hairstreake; there are often Ringlets in the higher branches of trees, but these have a leisurely flight. Hairstreaks are smaller and whizz around like mad things. I eventually got a distant picture, which is shown much blown up and cropped here.