With the Cretzschmar’s Bunting
on Bardsey taking over Sunday and meaning I didn’t get a chance to visit the
singing Melodious Warbler that was in the West Midlands at the weekend like
planned, I decided to go straight after work on the Monday. Having been present
for 5 days already and still singing happily in the same corner of trees since
its arrival, I was confident to connect after the short 1 and a ½ hour journey
down the motorway.
Walking down the bridleway
from the A452 I could hear the fluid song emanating from its favoured tree from
several metres away down the path, and joining the assembled 5 or so birders
already present we soon locked on to the warbler perched near the top of the
tree, partially obscured by the foliage.
The Melodious thankfully
showed really well right out in the open on several occasions, at one point
even feeding in the gorse bush in front of the fence just a few feet away from
where I was standing and offering excellent views, with the huge orange bill
particularly striking. Quite a showy individual, it spend its time between the
favoured corner tree, a line of small oak trees towards the back of the area
and a small holly bush on the opposite side of the path, and we watched for a
good hour as it flitted between perches and lived up to its name with frequent
bursts of melodious song that serenaded us as we stood.
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| Looking in to the sun made photographing it quite tricky |
Originating from south western
Europe, the song can be a very helpful identifying feature (as in this case),
although non-singing autumn individuals can be a little tricky, with the lack
of pale fringes to the greater coverts and short primary projection separating
it from the very similar Icterine warbler.
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| The thick orange bill is really clear to see |
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