Sunderland Point

Finally today at Sunderland Point I saw a yellow-browed warbler, my first of 2015. There may be a huge influx into the country at the moment, mainly on the east coast but with plenty here in the north west as well, but I really struggle with this species. Looking back at my records, this was only my sixth EVER in over 40 years birding, and it's not through lack of trying.

For example, a week or two ago we tried for one at Easington near Spurn  but failed. On Thursday I was at Saltfleetby in Lincolnshire where there were three, but failed. Yesterday I was at Donna Nook in Lincolnshire where there were six, again I didn't see or hear a single one. This morning we visited Fleetwood where there had been two in a small park, but we dipped. Even this afternoon at Sunderland Point we spent three hours staring up into a single Sycamore tree (not a forest, one tree) where we knew for sure that there was a yellow-browed warbler, but we only had three fleeting glimpses, each lasting fractions of a second and never of the complete bird. It was like if we put all of the pieces together we came up with a yellow-browed warbler. If it was a life tick I probably wouldn't have counted it.

I've played the call over and over and know it better than the Match of the Day tune, but I never hear one even when they are in the tree above me. At Sunderland Point today, the bird was said to be very vocal in the morning, but in the afternoon, not a peap out of it!

Rant over, but hopefully I won't have to have the displeasure of looking for another until next year at the earliest. The best I can say about the species is it's on my year list. At least Sunderland Point is a nice place.

Year: 259 (Yellow-browed warbler)

The road to Sunderland Point!