23rd October 2009 – Eastern Crowned Warbler in County Durham…..!

Late last night I checked Birdguides only to discover that an Eastern Crowned Warbler had been found at Trow Quarry in County Durham! This species breeds in Japan, Korea and the extreme south-eastern areas of far Eastern Russia and winters in Malaysia and Western Indonesia predominately. Prior to this record the species had only been recorded in the Western Palearctic four times (Germany 1843, Norway 2002, Finland 2004, Netherlands 2007).

This species has been on my mind for many years, it was one of those ‘dream birds’ that I knew had potential to turn up the UK, yet I thought I would never see!

I had got barely any sleep that night, which is certainly not the great start someone of my mental disposition needs! I checked Birdguides to find the bird was still present. You would’ve though this would be great news, but I had a slight dilemma. Kath’s ‘due date’ was on this very day!

Thankfully Kath was very sure that the baby was not going to arrive today and was happy enough for me to go across to County Durham! This trip would certainly carry more anxiousness than usual!

Kath dropped me off at Roy’s and we soon on our way eastwards! It was a very stressy (perhaps best described as excited anxiousness) drive to Trow Quarry, but on arrival we learned that the bird was still present. We soon were enjoying great views of this stunning warbler. The bird was more striking than I had imagined. It was about the same size and structure as an Arctic Warbler; the central crown stripe and long bright white sweeping supercillum gave it an unmistakable head pattern. The bird also showed a double wing bar. The greeny upperparts contrasted well with the silver pale underparts. There was a subtle yellow tone to the undertail and ventral area. The bird also showed a slight greyish tone to the nape. This was a truly superb bird and a real joy to watch.

The Eastern Crowned Warbler was in the company of a Yellow-browed Warbler and a couple of Blackcaps.

It was great to catch up with a few folk that I do not see very often, birds like this also provide a great social opportunity! Franco’s own take on crowd control was highly entertaining and pretty effective too! Hat off to the guy, his directions to the bird were also superb!

As I didn’t attempt to photograph the Eastern Crowned Warbler, Gareth Picton has kindly allowed me to use some of his pics. Thanks Gareth!

Steph’ Thorpe has also kindly allowed me to use her video clip to illustrate what this super bird was like!

Thanks Steph

We watched the bird for a good few hours before it was time to head homewards again. On our way home we stopped off at Grindon Lough. There were massive numbers of Golden Plover, Teal and a few Shoveler and Wigeon. Also in nearby fields were seven Greenland Whitefronted Geese.

It had been a really enjoyable day. Thankfully on my return home Kath had not had the baby!

What an astounding bird! A big thanks to Kath!