A Warbler that's much too good to Spurn! 20th October 2021.

Late on Saturday afternoon a Two-barred Greenish Warbler (or just Two-barred Warbler for some) was discovered in bushes close to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's discovery centre at Spurn. The bird had first been reported as a Yellow-browed Warbler but after photographs were shared online it was re-identified as the much rarer Two-barred Greenish variety. I had never seen a Two-barred Greenish Warbler, in fact I'd never seen a Greenish Warbler, its more common cousin, and knew little of the finer details about the species so was quickly delving into the books to find out more. I found out that with only nine previous records in the UK that its rarity was sure to generate a large twitch to the reserve on the following day. 

Spurn is two hundred miles away from Caley's Castle and after much deliberation on Saturday evening, we decided that we wouldn't travel that far again, having driven to Yorkshire five times already this year to twitch birds in the county and I was pretty fed up with trundling up and down the M1 motorway. By Monday I was regretting the decision not to go for the bird especially when my mate Lucky Jim sent me some nice photos of the Two-barred Warbler that he'd taken! At least by staying at home on Sunday I had saved Mrs Caley and myself from another absolute soaking since the weather had been awful by all accounts and views of the Warbler had been far from satisfactory. The Two-barred warbler was still present on Tuesday but I was at work and particularly busy so there was no chance of getting there. By Tuesday evening I had resolved to take the chance and travel to Spurn, had arranged to bin work for the following day and, most importantly, had managed to talk Mrs Caley into going. I had checked the weather forecast and had noted that the southerly wind direction which had held the migrating Warbler up was due to last into the day on Wednesday but then change overnight to a stronger northerly airflow by Thursday which, with the colder conditions that would bring, was likely to send the bird on its way. So if we were to have any chance of connecting with yet another lifer in Yorkshire then it had to be on the Wednesday.

On the preceding three days an update confirming the continued presence of the Warbler had been posted on the bird news services just before eight o'clock each morning. Waiting at home for that first report of whether the bird was still present or not would be futile though, bearing in mind that the drive would take almost four hours. We had to leave early and chance it. There was plenty of back-up birding opportunities in Yorkshire or neighbouring counties should the Warbler have disappeared overnight anyway. Woodhall service station lies just before the M18 junction and is about halfway to Spurn so would make a convenient pit-stop and considering we would leave home at six o'clock would be around about the time that the news should be put out about the bird. We endured a torrid journey up the M1 through heavy rain and more than once regretted our decision to travel. The weather forecasters had warned of some heavy rain but around Leicester it was almost of biblical proportions and at one stage the motorway traffic was virtually at a standstill owing to standing water on the carriageway. We stuck with it though knowing that, at the Spurn coast, it was supposed to much nicer and dry for the best part of the day. At least I had a good feeling that the rain would probably have dissuaded the Two-barred Warbler from undertaking its own onward journey. We enjoyed a coffee and toasted sandwich while keeping check on the bird news. By quarter past eight no news had been received concerning the warbler so we decided to carry on with our journey anyway. As I rejoined the motorway traffic, Mrs Caley announced, much to my relief, that the bird had been seen again so our twitch was well and truly on!

I'd only been to Hull a few times before, always for football and never sober so this trip was a new experience for me. Traffic was relatively light and we were heading towards the coast with no hold-ups to our journey. Even though I'd never been to Spurn before I obviously knew lots about the place, any birder worth his salt knows about the major birding spots in the country, so I already knew pretty much where I was going and I'd done my research into parking and other vital details. It was exciting though to finally see some of the famous place names in birding as we drove across the flat countryside to Spurn itself, Patrington, Easington and Kilnsea were all eagerly noted. We arrived at Spurn and parked up in the carpark opposite the YWT centre just before ten o'clock. Now to find the Two-barred Greenish Warbler!

By the time I'd been relieved of a fiver to park for the day, apparently you can park for free on the road but at least I was promised that my five quid would be used to safeguard the Spurn environment, it had started raining despite the second half of our drive being along dry roads. We both needed relief so headed straight towards the Discovery Centre but having crossed the road I became aware of some folk rushing into the bushes to our left and heard someone say, 'It's there, in the Sycamore'. We instantly forgot why we were so keen on visiting the Visitor Centre and followed the birdwatchers along a muddy and well worn path into the trees. They were all stood with binoculars and cameras trained on a Sycamore tree about twenty feet away. I noticed a quick flash of movement and was amazed to see the Two-barred Greenish Warbler perched momentarily in full view. How easy was that? Less than two minutes at Spurn and I'd ticked a rare Warbler species! After taking a few record shots, I hadn't had time to set the camera settings correctly, I checked that Mrs Caley had seen it, she hadn't but thankfully the Two-barred Warbler showed again in a different tree close by a few minutes later so we both had our life tick. I now have 394 birds on my UK list so am getting ever closer to the significant 400 total that is considered a decent total for a birder in this country. Amazingly we've added thirteen new species this year which is pretty good going considering we were hampered by the countrywide Covid induced lockdown until the end of March. The Two-barred Warbler was also the 252nd species that we've seen this year which is equal with our second best yearly total and we still have over two months to go.

The initial view of the Two-barred Greenish Warbler

We nestled in against and under a small bushy tree on the opposite side of the path which served as a natural umbrella while we studied the Sycamore trees. The Two-barred warbler was a whirl of activity amongst the branches, initially difficult to follow and track while we "got our eyes in" but easier once those eyes became accustomed to the movement of the bird as it moved rapidly through the foliage in search of food. At times the warbler appeared very close in the canopy of the small Sycamores and I managed to grab some better shots. Compared to a Yellow-browed Warbler, this was a chunkier bird with plainer greenish-grey upper parts and a more substantial bill that had a pale lower mandible. The crucial identification marks of the two buffy wing-bars set amongst uniformly coloured tertials were easy to see as was the striking yellowish eyebrow. Despite the similarities with a Yellow-browed Warbler, on these good views the Two-barred Warbler was obviously very different. Surprisingly, despite its larger size, the Two-barred moved more quickly than a Yellow-browed would, flitting rapidly from one leaf stem to another and rarely staying still. Yellow-browed's tend to creep along twigs more searching for stationary food items whereas the Two-barred appeared to be catching more mobile prey.

The Two-barred Warbler flew off over the adjacent pill-box bunker and disappeared. I checked my back of camera shots and allowed myself a grin but naturally wanted more. Mrs Caley and I have learned over the years while watching many Yellow-browed Warblers and Crests that these small sprites tend to keep to a trusted circuit through the trees and bushes so we fully expected the Two-barred Warbler to return to the Sycamore trees in due course so while most of the other birders followed the bird out of the area, we huddled under our "umbrella tree" a little bit more and waited. Ten minutes later I noticed a couple of birders stood five yards to our right who were looking at the tree above us. I stepped out into the rain and saw the Two-barred Greenish Warbler flitting through the leaves just feet above Mrs Caley's head! As I trained the camera skywards the Warbler predictably flew out over our heads and into its favoured Sycamore again and thus probably robbing me of a glory winning image. Not that I am complaining since I never imagined that we'd have views of the bird as good as we were having. The Warbler hopped into a nearby Hawthorn and afforded us sensational views as it at times emerged right out into the open.

The Two-barred Warbler was now taking the route through the trees that I had hopefully predicted it would. It favoured three Sycamore trees as well as the Hawthorn and although difficult to track at times would every so often appear in full view. It never settled for long so getting photos wasn't that easy and I binned as many as I kept but I was extremely content with my efforts. As with the Albatross a month or so before, I actually stopped taking photos at times and just tracked the bird with my naked eye through the leaves, binoculars were hardly necessary with the bird at times just feet away. Occasionally, when the bird dropped down into the base of a Sycamore, it was even easier to see but impossible to photograph well because it was too dark. My best shots were achieved when the bird emerged into the light at the outer branches.

Fifty minutes after we'd first arrived the Warbler flew strongly to our left and presumably over the path into vegetation nearer to the visitor centre and we finally remembered why we were so keen to go there ourselves when we had arrived. Relief finally taken it was time to sample the cafe fare. The cafe overlooks the Humber estuary which looks like a vast expanse of mud and shallow water and yet some pretty huge ships were furrowing their way through the channel towards Hull which could be seen in the distance. We could also see some broken cloud and sunshine to the South and the wind was from that direction so fingers crossed we would get some respite from the rain which was still pelting down as we enjoyed our coffee and cake. I remember reading that a lot of opposition was raised against the building of the Discovery Centre on the grounds that it would be intrusive but it all appears to have been constructed in a very sympathetic way and blends in well with the surrounding environment.

The rain had abated by the time we left the warmth and dry of the cafe so we took our place next to the favoured Sycamore trees once more. It was noticeable how many more twitchers had arrived since we took our break, maybe they'd been waiting for the weather to improve or perhaps had waited on the news that the Warbler was still present. Contradictory to my own assertive notion that the Two-barred Warbler would show even better now the sun was shining, there was no sign of it for the next half hour and we were discussing whether to accept the marvellous views that we'd already had and cut for home happy with our tick. As I looked at my watch and calculated what time we'd get back, I noticed a small movement in the tree to our right and there, almost in the same spot that I'd first seen it, was the Two-barred Warbler again. Birds really are creatures of habit and this bird was now making exactly the same circuit of the trees as it had done so earlier. However, this time it breezed through the three Sycamore trees, only offering a few limited opportunities of clear views before flying left and into a smaller Sycamore by the main pathway. The assembled twitchers en masse encircled the bush and everybody waited for the Warbler to reappear particularly those folk who had only just arrived. The tree that the Warbler had chosen was illuminated by the sunshine so when the bird did show briefly at the top, the camera dealt a lot more easily with the conditions. The appearance by the bird was far too brief though.

Another five minutes passed and Mrs Caley and I decided that we'd leave but we couldn't get out because the path was completely blocked by the other birders. It proved to be a blessing though because, as we were about to push our way through, the cameras began whirring again as the Two-barred Warbler pushed its way out of the shady foliage and into the limelight once more. I joined in and took more photos in the better light. As photographing small Warblers go, this was as good as it gets with the bird so close and willing enough to provide the chances for good images. Apparently, for once, we had chosen the right day to twitch the bird since it hadn't performed anywhere near as well in the preceding days. Mrs Caley reckoned that the birds increased activity was a sign that the bird was getting ready to depart and she may well have been right since it wasn't seen subsequently but I think that I'm finally learning some predictive skills and by studying the weather forecast knew that it would be leaving ahead of the colder winds on the next day. I'm just relieved that we got it right, made the drive and enjoyed such a cracking little bird!