Playing away

With November murk lying low over the Frome Valley this morning, it was time to play away, and head for the impossibly exotic, sun-kissed horse-paddocks of Portland. A Dusky Warbler had been present in Weston since Thursday, and I had yet to see one in Dorset. I awoke later than planned, and with a headache, the product of drinking pathetically small amounts of beer, which is enough to induce a hangover these days it seems.

Dusky Warbler, Portland: a rare view out in the open

Staying so low in the vegetation that it would have been difficult to locate if it wasn't calling regularly

Perhaps the clearest view I enjoyed in 3 hours of watching

Arriving at Avalanche Road around 0900, I was prepared for a long wait but within half an hour the only other birder present alerted me to the calling bird at the other end of the paddock to which I was stood. The Dusky Warbler had been extremely elusive in previous days but we dropped lucky as it sat out in the open for the best part of a minute preening. I stuck around until midday in the hope of improving on my original photos, and despite the bird coming very close on occasions, it only ever sat in the open at some distance, and then only briefly, hence the heavily cropped shots here.

Caught in mid air - check out those orange feet

Note the rusty flanks and vent

Here giving its tutting call - note sharp supercilium in front of the eye (diffuse in Radde's)

With a good Dorset tick in the bag from the top of the famous rock it was time to head down to the bottom and the migrant trap of Portland Castle. Three Chiffchaffs and two Black Redstarts were aron the castle walls, and the wintering Black Guillemot eventually appeared out in the harbour with a Great Northern Diver for company.

Black Redstart on the picnic tables outside the Chesil Beach Centre...

...and on the roof...

...and on the tideline at Ferrybridge

A final stop at Ferrybridge produced another trio of Black Redstarts, these much more obliging as they fed on the tideline and around the Chesil Beach Centre. Normally stopping here would be a good excuse for fancy coffee and cakes, but there was too much going on outside to be tempted today.

Chiffchaff at Portland Castle

Great Northern Diver, Portland Harbour

Black Guillemot, phone-scoped taking a rest on a mooring in Portland Harbour

It was incredibly mild for mid-November, which may have helped explain the lack of waterfowl in Portland Harbour - apart from the returning Tystie, a couple of Great Norther Divers and a handful of Red-breasted Mergansers there wasn't much to be seen. But still a fruitful excursion, and good to keep the county list ticking along as the clock had pretty much stopped on that in the last few months.

Wren at Ferrybridge

Black Redstart

Black Redstart, just drawing a few things to the attention of the humans

Dusky indeed...

Dusky Warbler. At dusk, appropriately.

Returning on the afternoon boat from Tresco left just enough time this evening to twitch a Dusky Warbler at Lower Moors - I had heard this bird yesterday giving its tutting call but had yet to see it. This time it was more showy and still reasonably vocal. The light was poor, however, so I was pushing my luck to get this record shot with a high ISO rating.

Scilly Saturday 30th October

Last day of the holiday and still fairly quiet so took the opportunity to try one last time to get clearer shots of the Dusky Warbler at Higher Moors. The bird was a little more showy this morning though still very difficult to capture on film. These were the best I could manage - although too distant to be frame-fillers, the light was good at least.

The children wanted one last go on the fantastic Pirate Playground on the Garrison so I took them to see the Red-breasted Flycatcher on the way which was still performing well. As we headed down to catch Scillonian III, calculating whether we would have enough time to look for the American Bittern in Cornwall, news came through that the ship had been cancelled. This meant no chance of seeing the Bittern at dusk or at dawn on Sunday, which deprived us of our best chance of seeing it. Lots of grumpy birders wandering around High Town in a daze...Finding accommodation for the unexpected additional night's stay was proving difficult but we were rescued by the great generosity and warm hospitality of Terry and Jane, creators of the 49 degrees/Isles of Scilly clothing brand and proprietors of the Foredeck ad other shops on St Mary's. We shall now feel even more morally obliged to dress from head to toe in gear from their excellent online shop - check it out and buy their stuff.

Scilly Wednesday 27th October

A couple of quiet days with few new birds were interrupted today with news of a Dusky Warbler at Higher Moors. I have seen a couple of these Siberian rarities but never very well, so I thought I would believe the reports of it 'showing well' when I saw it. It did in fact prove relatively easy to see, calling regularly and hopping about in sallows and willows just over the heads of small crowd of admirers. Photographing it was another story, however as it rarely came to the outer branches and its constant movement confused the auto-focus of even the best cameras. I eventually managed a couple of respectable images manually focusing through small gaps in the vegetation when it paused to eat an insect. The shot above of the bird hopping away reveals the characteristic apricot undertail coverts which were otherwise not always obvious. The brightness of the legs and feet were, however, striking and the call very distinctive. The yellow lower mandible on the fine bill was also noticable.