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Harry Spotter and the strange case of the one-eyed Melodious Warbler


 
Melodious Warbler
The Melodious Warbler is the South Western cousin of the Icterine Warbler that I was fortunate enough to see and photograph at Spurn recently. It closely resembles the Icterine Warbler which it replaces in France and Spain. Like its cousin, it is an insectivorous  summer migrant to Europe migrating to Africa in the autumn for the winter. I’ve had a bit of a warbler fest this year so far adding six warblers to my UK list. The only non-mega remaining hole was indeed the foresaid Melodious Warbler, a scarce rather than mega vagrant averaging 20 -30 records a year.

So when one was reported at Dawlish Warren Nature reserve in Devon the game was well and truly on! Sadly, the poor Dawlish warbler has had an unfortunate encounter with something animal or vegetable in nature leaving it one-eyed. These warblers are normally only in one location for a day or two before moving on, but this individual has stayed longer, its reluctance to move probably a result of its reduced vision. In common with many vagrant birds from Europe this is a first winter, i.e hatched this spring, bird.

I had been messaging my good birding pal Nick on Friday night and discovered that Anne and he were also off to Dawlish in the morning. It had been mainly reported from midday onwards, not that unusual as they are most active when the insects have warmed up and are mobile, so I decided to leave home around 07:00. The journey down to Devon was typical of this time of year with many mobile homes, cars packed with family on route to vacation and caravans slowing down the flow. At Bristol the flow stopped altogether, and I was delayed by 30 minutes or so. My mood was not helped by learning that Nick and Anne had arrived early and had walked straight into the warbler which was posing in its favourite brambles for its assembled admirers!

I eventually arrived at the car park around 10:00 and followed Nick’s instructions to a patch of brambles next to the golf course where a small number of birders were gathered. I was told that the warbler had been showing “very well” until 20 minutes previously when it had done a bunk! I messaged Nick who was down on the beach taking pictures of waders and he and Anne came back and we chatted for a while and I had a look at some nice back of the camera images he had captured with his nice new camera and lens combination. Nick and Anne then departed to chase a Juvenile Purple Heron near Bridgwater on their way home.

Warbler twitching tends to involve many hours of staring at a bush for a few fleeting glimpses of the bird but after two hours staring at the same patch of bramble my spirts were sinking rapidly. A lady then very kindly came up the lane to tell me that the bird had been located some 100 m away! Cue a mad dash and a brief view of the bird in some trees opposite another bramble patch. After a couple of minutes it flew into the brambles and made its way slowing along the hedge line catching insects as it went. As it was moving left it was predominantly showing the badly damaged and not so photogenic side of its face. Through my bins I was able to see some of the key characteristics that differentiate it from its Icterine cousin, a short primary projection and a lack of the Icterine's distinct pale fringes on its secondaries. After 5 minutes or so it flew back into the trees opposite and disappeared again.





Assuming I got to see the bird, I was originally planning to follow Nick and Anne to the have a crack at the Purple Heron, a bird I have only seen once before in the UK, but I decided to stick where I was to see if I could get a few photos of the warblers good side. After another couple of hours it returned to the brambles and obliged by presenting its good side for just long enough for me to get a few pics. 

I eventually set off for home at 17:00 after a typical days warbler twitching, 7 hours for something like 5 minutes view in total, but I was a very happy chappie having added new warbler number seven of the year to my UK list. 

On the drive home I pondered the fate of my warbler, with only one eye he or she is at much higher risk of predation with the most likely assailant being a Sparrowhawk. The other issue if it does not move as the season progresses will be a lack of food. I do so hope that my new found friend can somehow survive and make its way with the rest of its brethren to Africa for a well-deserved winter holiday.

I was also left to muse on what would be the next tick for my UK warbler list – whatever it is its now likely to be something very rare and exciting!

Footnote – my blogs are posted with sometimes rather imaginative spelling and grammar due to my extreme dyslexia!

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