This morning I got the opportunity to take my daily walk at Ainsdale. There's been at least one dusky warbler reported from here for about 3 months, and on 15th February two were seen together. This is the first time that I have been able to get here legitimately, due to it not being particularly local, or at least not local enough for me to feel comfortable about making the journey.
I arrived at about 9am and started the tough slog across the dunes. At this time of year the footpaths are flooded often above welly height and the slacks are large, almost like lakes in places and long detours away from your planned route are often required. It's a maze of footpaths, a place where you can very easily go wrong, especially if you're looking for a tiny, wide ranging, unobtrusive and skulking bird which is a mile or more from where you parked the car with the preferred habitat of ubiquitous hawthorn scrub and in all likelihood there will be no other birders around to help, the bird having been present for three months after all.
I got lucky today though, because as I approached it's favoured area I spotted two other birders clearly looking for the bird. As I approached them, at a distance of about 50m, one of them waved to me and started pointing to my right. Almost immediately I saw it, a dark chiffchaff like bird moving secretively around from hawthorn to hawthorn but fortunately for me it was coming closer and eventually went right past me at a distance of about 3m. Jackpot! No chance of a photo, I didn't even get the camera out it was just too quick and too skulking. Then it flew about 20m and I lost it. I had heard only the faintest of calls from the bird but it had been a decent view, albeit for just a few seconds. My impression was of a bird with dark brown upperparts and dark grey underparts, with a distinct pale supercillium.
I hadn't expected to see the bird so easily and it was far too early for my appointment nearby so I hung around for an hour or so hoping for better views, but I couldn't find it again. The original two birders had gone to be replaced by two new arrivals plus Andy, the original finder of the birds and we spread out in the hope of relocating it, but without success. In the end I decided it was time to leave and I started walking back towards the car.
I hadn't gone more than 50m when I heard a loud, harsh, 'tek, tek, tek' in the bush right in front of me! Surely not? Yet sure enough there it was, a dusky warbler flycatching out in the open about 2m away from me. I had incredible views of it before remembering my camera. It was still very difficult to photograph, permanently on the move and always behind vegetation which the camera always seemed intent on focusing on before the bird, but I did at least manage one photo. It looked different than the earlier sighting though, paler on the ear coverts and there was more contrast between the upper and under parts. I didn't think too much about it at this stage, until the bird flew into a bush behind the other two birders who had their backs to me and who were looking in completely the wrong direction. I whistled them and turning one indicated that they were watching the dusky warbler in a bush in front of where they were standing. Yet I could see and hear one in the bush behind them! Clearly two birds were involved. My bird moved closer to the other birders but apparently didn't join up with the other bird, but for a short while they were in the same area. As far as I know this was only the second time that two birds had been confirmed here.
Then I could put off the inevitable no longer. My impending appointment beckoned and I had to face the long slog back to the car. I was well and truly knackered when I got back, I recommend walking at a brisk pace through the dunes in winter as a decent form of exercise!
Dusky warbler habitat at Ainsdale.
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