Warbling around Portland

The weekend before last I twitched Portland to add Icterine Warbler to my Dorset list. The bird was in the vicinity of Eight Kings Quarry, which is in the vicinity of the Eight King Pub, and was keeping company with some Willow Warblers. They weren't the only warblers in the area: the pub was hosting a Cask Ale and Cider Festival for the weekend, at which I don't think it was compulsory to drink both, though judging by the singing some had.

A yee-haw band was cracking out country classics, so it was definitely the first time I've twitched a bird to the strains of Me and Bobby McGee. It had been raining in Purbeck in the morning so, with my windshield wipers slapping time, I headed west where the forecast was better. The weather improved the further from home I got, to the extent that the Icterine positively shone in the sunshine. Difficult to miss, especially as finder Brett Spencer was pointing a dirty great lens at it when I arrived.