Dusky Warbler, Sanick 12th October 2015

Photo courtesy Andy Williams

A Dusky Warbler was found at Sanick, not far from my lodgings, on Sunday morning. I visited the area on Sunday afternoon with no joy. Since it was close I repeatedly popped in & eventually saw the bird on Monday evening on my fifth attempt!

As the wind died down & the sun came out on Monday afternoon, I made my way back to base via Sanick. There were only three other birders on site, visiting birders Andy Williams & Al McNee and local birder Jim Nicholson. I'd only been there a few minutes chatting with Al & Jim, when Andy signalled he had the bird a short distance away in the middle of the village near the start of a weedy bank which ran away from the small burn. The three of us hurried around & we all had brief, repeated views as the Dusky Warbler made its way along the bank calling. I moved around to the other end of the bank & the bird made its way toward me, flicked over to a small weedy area behind one of the houses & dived into a small Sycamore in the corner. The other three joined me & we had good views as the bird moved about the bush, still calling frequently. Eventually, it flew into one of the gardens a short distance away & we lost it.

Photo courtesy Andy Williams

We all four departed with happy smiles. I was feeling rather buoyant & reckoned I had enough time before dusk to walk along the track (which runs alongside a ditch) at Leebitten, checking the Iris beds. Beyond the lines of Iris beds at the end of the track there’s a couple of small, isolated beds, towards which I strolled.

I was suddenly aware of a bird disappearing into the next to last Iris bed, about 30yds away. Initial impression was of a small green & white bird, Phylloscopus warbler size. I edged a bit closer & the bird popped up, but this time I did get bins on it, if only for a couple of tenths of a second. I’d had an impression of something I wasn’t quite sure about, but it excited me. I was really expecting Chiffchaff, Yellow-browed Warbler or Goldcrest, all of which I’d being seeing a lot of during the preceding weeks & which fitted size-wise. I edged closer to within about 20yds & the bird popped up again. I had a clear view of the head: gold crown-stripe bordered black, with prominent white supercillium & black eye-stripe. As I waited for the bird to show itself again I concluded it could be nothing else but a Firecrest. I only saw the bird well a couple more times. The bright patch on the side of the neck looked golden-tinged & was also very obvious. The gold rather than yellow crown-stripe indicated an adult male.

I continued to try & get more views, but the Firecrest became increasingly difficult to see, always remaining in the same, small Iris bed. It then stopped completely, so assuming it had gone to roost I departed. I did return the next morning, but no sign of the bird.

It was only subsequently chatting with a couple of local birders, I realised Firecrest is a very good local bird. When I submitted the record officially I was asked to send in a description because Firecrest is, "...rarer than Olive-backed Pipit & Blyth's Reed Warbler on Shetland."