Stage 3 - Eastern Olivaceous, Booted and Barred..

After a losing streak of dipping on Citrine wagtail, Little stint and Roseate tern, I was sure that my 3rd twitch in a week would prove successfull? But boy, was I in for the worst days twitching ever!!

Early on Saturday 4th September, I set off from Walton/Liverpool with Jason and Ralph Jones in search of an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler that was in the ''Old fall hedge'' at Flamborough head in East yorkshire. The bird had been present for 3 days and was proving elusive, once it eventually showed itself for the eager twitchers during those 3 days, it showed quite well in the corner of a hedgerow by the old fall plantation. Hopefully we would see it?


Arriving on site around 9am, birders had been there since 7am and there had been no sign of life what so ever. Previous mornings the bird had been 'tacking' and showing in the early hours of the morning. Dissapearing for the afternoon, but only showing once or twice. Dissapointingly, we soon came to terms that we may not see this bird. Can anyone guess the end result? After 2 hours of standing there til 12 lunchtime, every other birder had moved off and it was just us 3 left! Birds in the hedge included a Willow warbler and 2 Robins but definetely not an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler..
It would have made perfect sense if the bird had of been there, but the mood I was in, it was the biggest pile of b***** I have seen for a while.

We were all in sheer shock after dipping such a rare bird in britain. Next stop was a Barred warbler that was showing well in the willows by the golfcourse but even that didn't show for us. A Common rosefinch had been in the vicinity a few hours before we arrived, but that too had flown off!

During the afternoon, news broke of a Booted warbler that was elusive and mobile at Grimston-upon-hull at a site with no general access. Access was arranged shortly after and so we headed off in search of yet another elusive warbler. Getting lost in Grimston in York due to the sat-nav, didn't help matters. On arrival, 80 or so birders lined up on a dirt-track alongside several cereal fields staring intently into the tiniest patch of ditch that you could imagine. Arriving around 5pm and a wait of 40 minutes and guess what..? We saw a Whitethroat for all our efforts and no Booted warbler. It had obviously skulked off further down the ditch. All that's left to say now is that the atmosphere in the car on the way home was somewhat, silent..


Dipping, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Booted warbler, Barred warbler, Common rosefinch in a day, Citrine wagtail, Roseate tern and Little stint in 2 seperate days; was more than enough for me to pack in birding.. Haven't decided what to do yet but will keep you posted.

Let's hope something turns up in the next few days for me to twitch!