Sardinian Warbler test

With another rare day off I took the Jims down to South Foreland today in the hope we could see our first ever Sardinian Warbler. We parked up in Beach Road and I stopped to ask for directions in the cafe only to find Jamie P getting a coffee so who better to ask and bingo we were now just a short walk away from the area he had found the target in and more importantly had just heard it calling there again before coming down for his coffee.

The Sardinian Warbler was in here somewhere

During the morning we were joined by quite a few birders. One guy fell down a rabbit hole and damaged his knee so ambulances were called and attended him whilst we continued to look for the bird. A Spitfire put on a bit of a show along the white cliffs which was good to see, a Hobby flew through the valley, Fulmars flew along the cliff edge and we had four views of at least two Peregrines. Jamie P joined us and straight away the bird called as if it knew he'd returned. The bird then gave a little sub-song before a fleating glimpse as it flew between bushes. The bushes contained both Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat which added to the fun although these too were quite elusive and did catch a few of us out at times, me included. A dash across the field to some guys that "had it" eventually revealed a Lesser Whitethroat before we returned to the bushes again only to hear more calls but no views save one guy that got on it just below where I'd previously seen it. 

By now people had decided to get the phones out and play the call which the bird didn't seem to respond to but it made it a little harder to know if you had the bird calling or somebody on their phone. We were joined by fellow Essex birders Shaun H and Martin B and we walked back around the bushes we picked it up on call again but seeing it was still proving difficult with limited movement being picked up deep in the cover.  A Whitethroat flew in and then the Sardinian Warbler flew out low and crossed the path. The Whitethroat also flew out but higher up. There followed some debate with the guys closest saying they had seen it well enough to be 100% sure on it and the guys around us that have seen Sardinian before also thought it safe. We gave it another couple of hours and heard the bird a couple more times and had a very similar brief flight view along with plenty of "was that it?" action. 

In all a very long and frustrating day but in a lovely spot with good company. We spent six hours on site heard the bird a dozen times both calling and singing and had no more than three very brief flight views. I've never seen Sardinian Warbler before which made it a little harder with the poor views it gave and I have to say this is one of the most elusive birds I've ever twitched. The bird is on my list as heard very well but seen really poorly and I really would like to see one better than this one day for sure.

Year list 212

Life list 431