In the sun at Far Pasture this afternoon I had 2 Chiffchaff feeding close to the car park. The first bird looked and sounded like standard, but the second was much more interesting. A much paler bird with a buff supercilium and almost white under parts. Silent for over half an hour it eventually called the standard collybita "hweet".
Chiffchaff No.1
Chiffchaff No.2
A disappointing trip to Teesmouth this morning yielded just a Black-throated Diver and a Velvet Scoter. No sign of the Short-eared Owl or Avocets.
Back in Gateshead the Ruff was still at Shibdon along with an adult Mediterranean Gull.
Chiffy 2 is the 'sibe' Rob, call is not as cut and dried as first thought and is not definitive. Plumage is the key. Read this excellent article (and part1) by Martin Garner: http://birdingfrontiers.com/2013/01/02/siberian-chiffchaff-and-common-chiffchaff-part-2/
ReplyDeleteCheers.
That was the article that I mentioned after I first had the bird back in October. I was happy with tristis from plumage, but less comfortable when it only gave "hweet" calls. Back in October, just after the bird dived into cover, I heard the classic tristis call, but with Bullfinch also nearby I didn't trust my cloth ears. Maybe after 3 and a half months it is picking up the local lingo. It would be interesting to see what the ringers put it down as.
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