The big stories
Mainland Britain’s first twitchable River Warbler for 11 years was a prize find for Dave Hughes in early June.
Spring peaked during a crazy late May and early June period that included twitchable River Warbler and Red-necked Stint on the same weekend, two Calandra Larks on Fair Isle and much more.
MY birding day at Ham Wall on 4 June 2021 started off quietly. I wanted to add Eurasian Bittern to my year list – little did I know what was in store for me later on. Having spoken to one of the RSPB wardens I was told not many were flying at present, and my spirits slumped a little. However, 20 minutes later the species was in the bag for 2021, so I decided to walk on and visit Avalon Hide to get good views of Western Marsh Harrier.
It was on the return journey from the hide, as I rejoined the
grassy track back to the car park, when I heard a bird song which was unusual, though not alien to me, having seen the Stoke Ferry River Warbler in 1989. Excitement kicked in. I needed a good view of the bird to confirm my identification, though.
It didn’t take long until, to my delight, I noticed the warbler facing me with its mottled upper breast. Another birder with two young kids was 50 m away and they were recording the bird, though they didn’t know the identity. Said birder approached
me and agreed that it was definitely a River Warbler.
I walked back to the car park to inform the wardens that they would be getting a lot of birders over the next few hours! After that, I returned to the bird and watched it on and off until about 4 pm. The adrenalin was still pumping as I walked back, passing many friends who were heading to see the warbler.
I have been birding for 43 years and have been lucky enough to find both an Aquatic Warbler on Portland and a
Lesser Yellowlegs at Pennington Marshes, but this day will stay with me forever. It also gives me great encouragement to try and find another rarity one day. ■