Pallas's Warbler Part 3

It was a glorious start to the day at Heswall and finally I was rewarded for my perseverance with good prolonged views of the Pallas's warbler. Of the seven hours or so that I'd spent at the sewage works in Target Road prior to today, probably only about 20 seconds involved actually watching the bird. I'd seen all of the relavent bits of the bird spread over several views, and I could piece them all together and say that I'd seen a Pallas's warbler, but it was all very unsatisfactory and wasn't much more than a year tick, just another number.

Today though I only had a short wait of about an hour before the bird showed, low down on the side of one of the sewage tanks. For a few minutes it kept dropping down into the grass and then flying up and hovering around the cracks and crannies of one of the side panels. Then it flew into one of the nearby bushes and continued to perform well, flitting around and on view most of the time.Then it disappeared for half an hour, before showing again in the same bush. I watched it for another couple of minutes until it disappeared again and I decided it was time to go. One bloke I met today had spent five hours here on Sunday and not seen the bird so I didn't want to push my luck!

At least six chiffchaffs and several goldcrests were very active today on the side of the tank, with the sun bringing out lots of midges and flies. Also today on my travels I saw my first fieldfare of the year.

Year: 112 (Fieldfare)

I know what you're thinking, but give me a break! I'm absolutely made up with this photo. It captures the moment perfectly. I never thought I'd get a photo of a hovering Pallas's warbler, especially one which shows the rump so well.