Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler at Gibraltar Point
Found by Kev Wilson on September 30th and heard to call a few times in the evening I ambled down to Gib on the morning of October 1st not arriving until 09:20! With no sightings since first light and then a brief soighting around 10:15 it was not looking good so I decided to give everyone else a chance and went off for my lunch at about 12:30 guaranteeing that the bird would show while I was away; Oddly on this occasion I got my timing wrong and it suddenly appeared just as I returned to extend the 4 hour vigil and as in birding parlance showed quite well for about 20 minutes on and off but was always very active and difficult to get onto when it did appear in the open; Call was obviously the key element but a few plumage features also point to Eastern which I will attempt to put down as and when but for now a selection of images, several at 3200 ISO due to the dull light. It was good to get something representative on a bird that was hard to see let alone photograph. If accepted a Lincolnshire first completing the Bonelli’s double for Gib. A hobby flew over and two Yellow-browed Warblers were rather vociferous.
Initial shot - with several Chichaffs in the same area you do look twice but when the real bird appears it is unmistakably a Bonelli’s -
Mostly frequenting a very leafy dogwood and occasionally hopping into the bare twigs that protruded from it
Rump, tail and tertials
Strikingly silky white underparts always an immediate pointer
A test for the auto-focus system
After 4 hours I was beginning to loose hope - just shows how many rare birds we must miss when they are in effect invisible for 90% of the day
Taking white fly? or insect eggs
Very grey toned mantle and scapulars
Supercilium always obvious and pale eye ring complete with smudgy mark on lores - colours could be affected by reflections of sun off the leaves
