News of a locustella species came out mid-afternoon on Sunday as a possible Pallas's Grasshopper warbler in Norfolk. The bird was identified just after 6.00pm as being one, and it showed well intermittently until dusk and even sat out on some brambles. I was gripped off!
PHOTOS HERE
After numerous attempts to see this species,3 on mainland Britain and 4 on Shetland, 2 of which ended up being just Grasshopper warblers, I just couldn't get excited about this one. I was totally convinced the bird wouldn't be there in the morning and went into work to do my night shift.
I finished work in the morning and headed home for some sleep, as there was no sign of the bird. At 9.30am, the bird was refound, "SHIT"!
I just couldn't get myself motivated for the bird"so tired", "Norfolk", "4 Hours away", "dipped so many". Anyway, news then came out no further sign by 10.00am then all went quiet. Then at 10.45am it was seen again, the phone then rang, it was Dan Pointon. It went something like this, as I was so tired," We're going, I'll meet you on the A50, you won't see it at home!
I was off I just needed that bit of encouragement to step out the front door. There was no news on the bird whilst travelling across until 13.45, which said it was still there, we were still 2 hours away!
I was off I just needed that bit of encouragement to step out the front door. There was no news on the bird whilst travelling across until 13.45, which said it was still there, we were still 2 hours away!
We arrived on site just after 16.00 and could see everyone running around in the distance; this was going to be a nightmare! By the time we had reached where the bird was, everyone had thankfully calmed down and was waiting for the bird to show. After an hour of waiting around, some lads decided to do an organised flush. For the number of people that were there, it went well, and the bird appeared from a ditch and showed well for Dan before it popped up in some reeds briefly for me to see. At last, my first Pallas's Grasshopper warbler in Britain, I couldn't believe I had actually seen one. I did get better views of the bird as it sat in the bottom of a hawthorn bush and a few flight views as the evening progressed.
Birders waiting to see the PG Tips
News then spread around that birders' cars were underwater as the tide was coming in at nearby Burnham Overy car park. I've never seen people run like it. Hilarious!
Birders just made it back in time!
The evening was now upon us, so we decided to stay over and travel back tomorrow. We headed for a local youth hostel and then went for a meal and a few celebratory beers.
We got up at 6.00am and headed back to the site where we managed to get even better views of the Pallas's grasshopper warbler. We had it sat out in a ditch and moving through the reeds. After great views of the bird, we headed to Wells Wood to have a look for an Arctic warbler, but the bird had gone. We headed home after this with another great bird on our lists.
