Dorset at the Double! Portland 17th April 2024

Apart from Grouse, one in particular, and maybe Skuas, the Warbler family is my favourite amongst birds. It is a large group and in my life I've only been able to scratch the surface of what is a huge and varied collection of species. Subalpine Warbler is one that I'd seen before, albeit very briefly, but one that I'd since longed for extended views of, especially of a male. After seeing a female in the Cot Valley in Cornwall a few years ago, I'd learned that the Subalpine group had been split into three separate species, namely Western Subalpine Warbler, Eastern Subalpine Warbler and Moltoni's Warbler. The bird that we saw in Cornwall was a juvenile and they are difficult to identify to species so at the time that bird was listed as a "Subalpine Warbler sp" in my life list.

On the afternoon of Sunday the 14th a male Western Subalpine Warbler was found in a bramble hedge at Wallsend on the Isle of Portland. The news broke too late for us to get there in good time that day so I watched on with envy as some superb photos of the bird emerged on social media later. I had a particularly heavy workload so wouldn't be able to go during the week and I knew that small vagrant warblers tend not to hang around for long. However, the weather for the next couple of days was forecast to be very rough, wet and windy, owing to one of those named storms hitting the UK, so I gathered that there may be a higher than normal chance of the bird sticking around. I was still amazed though, considering that Portland Bill just half a mile away from the bird, was battered by seventy mile an hour winds, that positive news of the Subalpine Warblers continued presence was received on both Monday and Tuesday. There was definitely a chance of seeing it should I take a sneaky day off on the Wednesday. My mate Kev also wanted to see the bird, and had conducted a bit of investigation into Subalpine Warblers in this country. He realised that in general, apart from a couple of birds that bucked the trend by staying for a month or more, that the longest they tended to stick around was four days so the Wednesday would be last chance saloon time. The conditions would also improve overnight which can be unhelpful for keeping a bird where you want it, but crucially the airflow would turn from the north, so not only would it would be a nice day on the Isle but the bird may be encouraged to stay for a little longer owing to the cold air being a block to further northward travel.

Kev is a lot keener than us, we knew he'd be on site well before we would be, and that he'd update us as we travelled. We are a lot more leisurely these days and wouldn't get to the site until mid-morning and even made plans to break a golden rule of twitching, and stop for breakfast on the way at a nice cafe we enjoy going to. It's a lucky cafe too since that's where we were when news broke of the Dark-eyed Junco (read here) just ten days before. We were just parking up in the Vine's carpark when Kev gleefully informed that the target bird was still there. Once we knew that, then we also knew that we could enjoy our breakfast with no qualms since the bird shouldn't be going anywhere during the day.

I kept in touch with Kev while we drove to Portland and he very generously offered to wait on site until we got there so that he could show us the exact place where the Subalpine Warbler was. We parked in the nearest street to the site access, incidentally just around the corner from where we saw our first ever Great Spotted Cuckoo, and geared up. Our friends Ady and Bryan had just returned from seeing the bird and were heading off to grab a Woodchat Shrike that had been found along the coast at Abbotsbury, a bird that we'd aim for later in the day. Ady related to me, the precise walking directions to the Subalpine Warbler which would have been helpful had I listened correctly. As it was it took us far longer than it should have to join Kev and Karen at the bramble thicket where the Warbler had been showing. Apparently the bird had disappeared about ten minutes before but Kev was entirely sure that it would reappear soon. Another ten minutes passed without any sign of the Warbler and I began to get that uncomfortable feeling that we'd arrived too late and that stopping for breakfast on the way was not such a cool move as I thought it was at the time. I remembered our only previous twitch and for a Subalpine Warbler. Then we had stood staring at a small berry laden bush for a total of ten hours, mostly in pouring rain, spread over three days for a grand total of about ten-seconds of views of the bird. I somehow managed to snatch four photos in that time, all captured the bird, but alas not its head. I was now slightly panicking that a repeat was on the cards.

Subalpine Warbler sp. (Cot Valley 18/10/2019)

Our friends left us alone and urged us not to worry. At least we now knew where the Western Subalpine Warbler was likely to appear and amazingly that would probably be just metres away from where we stood. We'd been next to that bramble for almost half an hour and there'd been no sign. A group of elderly birders arrived and proceeded to talk extremely loudly. They also appeared to be even more impatient than me and almost immediately started to walk through gaps in the hedges and into adjacent fields and plots looking for the bird. The level of disturbance was annoying to say the least and I was beginning to get a little, in fact very, irritated. The false alarms were almost continuous as well. 'There it is', as a Meadow Pipit flew in and landed on top of the bramble. 'There, on the other side', signified a couple of Great Tits working through the hedge. Someone answered, 'It's bigger than a Great Tit', which it isn't and I wished that folk would do their homework before setting out to see a bird. After a few minutes of the idle tittle-tattle and misidentifications my own patience was wearing incredibly thin, with my fellow hopefuls anyway. I had plenty in reserve for the bird and was prepared to wait for as long as it took to see it. Thankfully I didn't have to wait much longer because, at last, a bird fluttered past from right to left and perched briefly at the far left end of the hedge, and I knew instantly that it was the Warbler. 

Western Subalpine Warbler (Sylvia iberiae)

The Subalpine Warbler then progressed through the tangle of twigs and thorns, picking its way through deftly, and seeking out any insects that it could find. Most of the other folk had followed my call that the bird was there although a few hadn't seen it and now there was the usual shouts of, 'Where is it?', and 'I can't see it'. Once everyone was on the bird there then followed the predictable and continuous commentary from one or two, as if they thought they were the only ones who could see it. I wish that people could be quieter at twitches. I was obviously in a grump that day and I'm sure nobody meant any harm, but the constant unnecessary noise was annoying, like it is when folk, who pay good money to listen to a band, and then talk all the way through the gig infuriating anyone stood nearby. Now that the bird was present and active however,  I was busy taking photos of what I considered to be an ultra-smart little bird so managed to blank out the worst of the distractions.

I positioned myself ahead of the Warbler so that I could take head on shots as it worked its way towards me. Gradually it crept closer and closer, and little by little I upped my game with the camera, slowly improving the quality of shots being taken. The bird itself, although feeding on the sunny and sheltered side of the bramble, was generally obscured and only occasionally emerged completely into the open, making it tricky to get clear photos. The few times when it stopped still for a second or two, it had to be fill your boots time. Modern day cameras are magical in the way that they can freeze the action of a randomly moving, frenetic little bird and give the appearance that it was just perched in the open and easy to see, which actually wasn't the case for much of the time. 

Superficially the Subalpine Warbler's plumage was similar to the more familiar Dartford Warbler with the red throat and grey back but I thought that structurally it more resembled a Whitethroat. The white moustachial stripe is probably the most defining feature and the eye-ring is a striking red. The tail is long but not as long as a Dartford Warbler and its feeding habit of dipping forward to investigate every possible place where an insect might hide was noticeable. I've never seen Dartford Warblers foraging, possibly because they are real skulkers and only emerge from dense cover when displaying or when flitting from one gorse bush to another. This Subalpine Warbler was anything but secretive as it crept along the bramble hedge. Maybe it hadn't read its own bio description in the field guides.

Mrs Caley and I were alone again, the noisy tribe had left. The Warbler rewarded us with point blank views and at one point I had to back off from where I was sat because the camera wouldn't focus. I reckon that if a money spider or similar minuscule insect had been crawling on me then the bird would probably have hopped over and taken it, since it was so unconcerned by us being there. On one volley of shots that I took you could even discern a small spider that the Warbler had caught.

The Western Subalpine Warbler moved around to the other, more exposed side of the hedge, but still showed just as well. In the breeze the Warbler kept lower down, feeding almost at ground level. I joined it by grounding myself as well which drew a few disparaging comments about "bloody Toggers" from a couple of other birders who should have been more grateful that we had found the bird for them to instantly lock on to. I take photos but I am definitely not a Togger. It was a tough crowd at this twitch. 

More birders arrived but the bird was obviously fed up, on insects, since it flew a fair way to a small bush in the campsite field next door. It then flew back five minutes into the original hedge but this time moved through the very top of the bramble. I decided it would show better from the other side so walked around to the field on the other side which very usefully had a gate into it. Surprisingly nobody else followed me, not even Mrs Caley who had chosen to look for a Common Redstart that had been seen close by. I was absolutely absorbed by the Subalpine Warbler and wouldn't be distracted. A chance to see one so well as this may never come around again. I soon found the bird again and it was indeed favouring the calmer side of the hedge although it was less showy than before but did pop out of the bushes periodically as before. The Warbler even sang on a couple of occasions. I had a couple of minutes with the bird to myself before the other birders cottoned on to the fact that I was watching it and they soon joined me and curtailed the one-on-one session. 

The Subalpine Warbler was definitely getting more flighty and it wasn't long before it moved again, this time to the other side of the small field. There in a small, low growing thicket of bushes tucked up against a stone wall, the bird showed even closer than before, popping up no more than three or four feet away at times. It was difficult to get an angle on the bird despite it showing so well because it kept low and the stones were in the way but the opportunities were there when a clear view could be gained.

Almost exactly an hour after we'd first seen the bird we decided our time was up and we'd move on. The Woodchat Shrike was still present so it made sense to head up the coast and see if we could connect with it. The Shrike had been seen from the beach close to the carpark but by the time we arrived, according to a group of birders that had just returned from the beach, it had relocated to a hedge overlooking a sheep field just up the access lane to the carpark. That would explain why two chaps were staring back up the hill through a telescope as we drove in. Unfortunately they had gone by the time we'd parked up so we checked the hillsides and hedges with our own scope but there was no sign of the Shrike. We needed to walk back up the hill we had just driven down. It would have been better and quicker to drive up, and I could have saved a couple of quid by not paying to park. No sooner had I extricated the ticket from one of the very confusing machines, Kev called me to say that he'd spoken to a guy who told him where the bird was. Apparently it was perched on a hedge a couple of hundred metres up the lane that we'd just come down. 

We walked anyway and joined the chap who had his scope trained on something. I asked him where the Woodchat Shrike was and was told it was in his scope. I always thought Woodchats were too big to fit inside a scope but of course he was merely trying to be helpful and obviously had his scope pointing at the bird. I usually prefer to find the birds myself so quickly looked at the blackthorn hedge about a hundred metres away and soon found the bird perched on the hedge. I set my own scope up so that Mrs Caley could enjoy the fine adult Woodchat Shrike. Kev and Karen joined us, they had wisely parked in the lane but unfortunately missed the Shrike because it dropped out of the hedge and disappeared. It didn't reappear for the next fifteen minutes.

Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator)

Waiting around for the Shrike to show again seemed a waste of time to me so I returned to collect the car and then parked further up the lane by the entrance to a bridleway that passed the hedge which the Woodchat had been favouring. First though I set up the scope and scanned all of the hedge that I could see. There was no sign of the Shrike. I called Kev who was still stood at the original viewpoint, and asked if he could see it but it still wasn't visible from there either. Almost immediately after ending the call, I spotted a bird perched prominently in the top of a small copse. It just had to be the Woodchat and so it proved. I hailed Kev again and set him and Karen on to the bird so that they could claim their tick once they'd joined us by the gate. To improve on our distant views, we agreed that we'd approach the bird carefully and as stealthily as we could by walking up the bridleway and by using the hedge as cover. Leaving Mrs Caley by the car, we managed to get to around fifty metres away and then stopped. The path took a turn and going any further would present ourselves in full view to the bird so we both took some photos and then turned back and left the Shrike to it. It was still perched in the top of the trees when we got back to the gate. 

Kev and Karen had plans to go and twitch a Wood Sandpiper at Lodmoor which we considered doing as well but decided just to head home since I was back at work the next day and I didn't want to tire myself out too much. I figured that there'd be a few opportunities to see a Wood Sandpiper at some point during the year. I'm not chasing a "Big Year" this time so my year list is a casual affair in 2024 with new birds for the life list my priority. The Western Subalpine Warbler was my fourth addition to that life list in this year already and notched it up to 427. I wonder what the next new bird will be?