Monday, September 8, 2014

Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (Blythi)

Lovely day birding at Flamborough Head yesterday in warm sunshine. Loads of Whinchat and Wheatear straight from the Lighthouse car park.
 A little further down the path I heard a brief trilling song and then some tacking and thought Lesser Whitethroat. A showy bird came into view which in the glorious sunshine looked very brown on the mantle extending up to the nape and even onto the head in the photos. It also had brown in the ear coverts. On returning home and viewing the photos in detail one of them appears to confirm the correct wing formula for Blythi with p2 at the same level as p7 as described in Martin Garners new Challenge Series-Autumn book. I emailed Martin these pics and description and it looks like the same bird he saw today just south of the Lighthouse car park at Flamborough.  A Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (Blythi).  Also seen were Willow Warbler plus 3 Spotted Flycatchers, a female Pied Flycatcher and a pair of Redstart, a Marsh Harrier and a Goldcrest