Reports of a rare Pallas's leaf warbler at Abingdon have been showing on the Oxon Birding blog for about 3 weeks now and I thought I may as well see if I could find it, now that the large numbers of 'twitchers' had gone.
It was described as located along a fence line which bordered the local sewage treatment works and gave clear details of where to park and where exactly to look. With this very helpful information I was able to find the spot without any trouble. There were several cars parked along the road which I thought was a good sign as at least if someone had already located the bird it would be very handy! But the path was empty! The occupants must have belonged to the houses opposite!
With no leaves present on the trees and bushes, I thought it would be easy to pick out a small bird flitting between the branches- but when I came to look, there were numerous small birds and I knew I'd have to check each one! I started to look at every bird I could see; however all I could identify were chiffchaffs ( in good numbers) with a few long tailed tits and wagtails too.
Another birder caught up with me but we still had no success and after a while he realised he'd left his phone in the car so went to retrieve it. I continued looking unsuccessfully until I reached the end of the fence then started to retrace my steps. The original birder, plus another, were working their way towards me, when suddenly one of them pointed and beckoned to me. They'd obviously found it. They pointed it out to me but it was very difficult to see the bird's features clearly enough to identify it and it soon got lost amongst the branches. I knew I'd have to see it in more detail to be sure of it, so carried on looking closely through binoculars at every small bird. Eventually I got it! Clear but very quick views of its wing bars and striped head as it perched on a branch in front of a tree trunk for a few seconds before it was off again. I thought I had re-found it, but a closer inspection showed it was a goldcrest instead but I didn't mind as I'd not seen one of those this year! I did manage to locate the Pallas's warbler one more time, after which it flew over our heads into the trees on the opposite side of the path and was lost to view. Sadly no photos today, these little warblers are just too mobile!!
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