Eastern Crowned Warbler, Bempton Cliffs, N Yorks, Oct 2016.
EASTERN CROWNED WARBLER, Bempton Cliffs, North Yorkshire. These photos, which show a lot of the ID features, were taken on the second day of its stay, 5 October 2016. It started in the shadows of the small copse next to the overflow car park before moving to the sunny west side for much of the afternoon. As time went by, it climbed higher into the sallows along the edge of the copse in search of insects and into lovely evening sunlight. I feel very lucky for the chance to see it after being out of the country for the previous two British sight records. Mind you some of my friends (Garry Taylor for instance) have seen all three! This one might have been the best so far though. The copse was full of chiffchaffs and Goldcrests with a couple of noisy Yellow-browed Warblers also present and in a nearby hedge what transpired to be an Arctic Warbler was found. Bramblings and Redwings flew by calling and Red Admiral butterflies basked on a lovely sunny autumn day. One of the best for a while. A big thank you to Dave Aitken and his staff at RSPB's Bempton Cliffs Reserve for such a nice welcome and for looking after everyone so well.