Siberian Chiffchaff
Lockdown birding allows Ruth to find a scrap of Siberia in North Wales…
Ruth Miller finds a scrap of Siberia in North Wales
WE LIFTED OUR BINOCULARS AND, AMAZINGLY, AFTER ONLY A MINUTE OR SO WE CAUGHT SIGHT OF A SMALL PALE BIRD FLITTING ABOUT IN THE REEDS
The very unusual circumstances of the last 12 months have taught us many things, but one which has really hit home is the significance of your local patch. In a normal year as a bird guide, I would be spending time in locations across Britain or overseas to show our guests the special birds that inhabit those parts of the world.
I also guide a lot of daytrips and longer tours in North Wales, too, where we have more than our fair share of exciting birds and wonderful locations. But even then, I will concentrate on the prime areas where I can be sure to find great birds to share. What I don’t do is visit the more unlikely nooks and crannies of my local patch.
Lockdown provided the perfect opportunity to do this, and we discovered more new footpaths and habitats than we had ever imagined. Other birders in our area were also doing the same and we kept in contact regarding our new discoveries.
One great friend, Marc, had been concentrating his efforts on an unassuming patch of damp fields not far from his home, not somewhere he would go birdwatching under normal circumstances and quite a leg-stretch for us. However, Marc turned up something so special that we grabbed our boots and packed a rucksack with emergency supplies and armed with his directions, we headed for his new local patch.
It was a longish walk from home in breezy conditions, not ideal for looking for passerines. However, at length we turned into a quiet lane and thankfully left the wind behind while the hazy sun felt warm on our faces. It gave us hope for finding Marc’s special bird after all.
Further along the lane we spotted the footpath we needed as it branched off to the left. We were just about to climb over the stile, when a Goldcrest sang from
the hedge on the right. As so often when you stop for one bird, other birds pop up into view.
This time it was a lovely male Lesser Redpoll; it landed in the top of a Blackthorn bush just a few feet from us and flashed its eponymous red crown. What a gorgeous sight and a new bird for our slow-growing 2021 list.
Watching and waiting
Back to our original mission, we found the footpath was incredibly muddy. Still, faint heart never won fair lady and that applies to good birds, too, so we ploughed on, regardless. Unfortunately, we were back in the cold breeze here, and there were very few birds in the patch of scrub and reeds, where Marc had recently enjoyed some good sightings. Surely we hadn’t come all this way for nothing?
We kept watching and waiting, and at last we saw movement: another Goldcrest. We followed this tiny bird as it flitted through the tangled brambles below a cluster of scrubby trees, and it worked its way to a more sheltered area above a ditch. Here it fed over the water and allowed us to get good views. A lovely sighting, but it wasn’t the bird we had hoped to find.
More scanning followed and next up was a confiding Treecreeper, but that really was it on the bird-front, so we squelched our way back to the lane. We found another viewpoint where it was a little more sheltered and once again scanned hard.
We watched a pair of Long-tailed Tits buzzing about through the willow bushes; these charming birds are always wonderful to see. A male Greenfinch performed his ‘butterfly flight’ display with slow wing beats while uttering his lovely nasal song. All very enjoyable but still there was no sign of the bird we had come to see!
Back to the lane and further along we found a spot where not only were we out of the wind but now we could also see the sheltered side of reeds and willows. Out of the wind and facing the sun, this looked more promising – surely our special bird would be here?
We lifted our binoculars and, amazingly, after only a minute or so we caught sight of a small pale bird flitting about in the reeds. Could it be? Those brief glimpses revealed our pale bird was a warbler, but we needed better views than that to clinch the deal.
Arrived from Siberia
Luckily, the warbler then chose to climb high up into a sunlit willow as if to say, “Here I am, I have been waiting for you!”. There was no doubt. This was THE bird: a classic Siberian Chiffchaff! Clean white below, pale fawny brown above with bright green flight feathers just like the photographs Marc had shared with us! This was quite incredible. Here was an anonymous patch of scrub and reed down a small lane off a country road, and this beautiful little bird had managed to find its way here all the way from Siberia! And what’s more, Marc had managed to spot it on his lockdown walks from home.
It makes you realise how many other special birds may be going completely undetected. Without doubt, had we not all been in lockdown and had Marc not been checking his local fields so thoroughly every day, this rare bird would have gone unrecorded. It’s yet another wonderful example of how birdwatching is such an amazing interest to have.
Take a walk from home in North Wales across farm fields and you can stumble on a tiny bit of Siberia and can share that joy with others. There is no doubt about it: birds, and birdwatchers, are brilliant!