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SIBERIAN
CHIFFCHAFF
ON BROOK MEADOW - Dec 2014 - Feb
2015
This bird was first
seen and photographed on Brook Meadow Emsworth by
Malcolm Phillips on Dec 11 2014. It was not reconised
at first as a Siberian Chiffchaff, but simply as a
rather grey common Chiffchaff. However, the photos
were seen by Peter Milinets-Raby who thought they
suggested a Siberian Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus
collybita tristis).
This is an eastern race of Chiffchaff which breeds in
coniferous taiga forest from the Ural region
eastwards. It winters mainly in India, though odd
birds stray to Western Europe annually in autumn (end
Sep-Oct). However, the best ID pointer is the bird's
call, described in the Collins Guide as "a mournful
piping, straight (or negligibly downslurred) 'viip'".
Its song is faster and more varied than
the
standard
Chiffchaff. However, neither song nor call have been
heard.
Most sightings were on the south meadow - Grid Ref:
SU751059 - To reach Brook Meadow's south meadow
you can park in Palmer's Road Car Park behind Tesco's
Express. Take the path from the south eastern corner
of the car park. Walk over the bridge and enter the
Brook Meadow nature reserve on your left.
Here is the story of the various sightings of this
unusual Chiffchaff and the gradual realisation of what
it was. All photos were taken by Malcolm Phillips and
we are very grateful for his diligence in getting
them.
Diary
of Siberian Chiffchaff sightings on Brook
Meadow
in
reverse chronological order
. . .
THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 5 - 2015
Siberian
Chiffchaff
Ralph Hollins
reports that Alan Kitson went to Coldwaltham Sewage
Farm near Pulborough Brooks today and got a photo of a
Siberian Chiffchaff showing very white underparts. See
photo at . . . http://www.sos.org.uk/administrator/components/com_jobline4/logo/p1000830---copy.jpg
Ralph assumed this was a bird acquiring spring plumage
but when he went to find confirmation of that he found
something more interesting.
"What I found was a webpage about 'colour morphing'
suggesting that this species in particular can look
very different depending on its environment. See . . .
https://birdingfrontiers.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/siberian-chiffchaff-ing/
This piece ends with two photos of the same bird in a
Dorset garden - in one the body plumage has the
'normal' slightly brownish tinged underparts, in the
other the underside looks pure white as in Alan
Kitson's photo. Interestingly the Dorset photos were
taken on Feb 5th in 2013 so maybe plumage change to
spring colour has some part in the effect."
For more photos of a
Siberian Chiffchaff go to . . . http://georgeheathpatchbirding.blogspot.co.uk/
FRIDAY
JANUARY 9 - 2015
Mystery
Chiffchaffs
Malcolm
Phillips went round Brook Meadow this morning and saw
a Chiffchaff in the south meadow. He then walked up to
the cleared area south of the S-bend in the river and
saw another Chiffchaff. He is not sure which of the
two is the Siberian Chiffchaff. Or maybe they both are
Siberian Chiffchaffs! Malcolm has put the two shots
together on one image to get a better comparison. The
lower one was from the south meadow and the upper one
from the S-bend. Note neither of them is ringed.
FRIDAY
JANUARY 2 - 2015
After about
six hours of creeping around Brook Meadow today, Mike
Wells finally spotted the Siberian Chiffchaff on the
pile of wood chippings opposite where the trees have
been cut down below the S-bend. Perseverance certainly
pays off. Mike sent me two photos of the same bird,
one taken in the shade and the other in bright
sunlight. Good to compare plumages in different
lights.
Malcolm Phillips also
captured the Siberian Chiffchaff on the pile of wood
chippings - that is clearly a good habitat to look out
for it. Malcolm also included a photo of a common
Chiffchaff for comparison. The Siberian Chiffchaff has
now been on Brook Meadow for at least 3 weeks. Our
first sighting was on Dec 11.
MONDAY
DECEMBER 29 - 2014
Malcolm a photo of
what could be the Siberian Chiffchaff that we have
been seeing on Brook Meadow since Dec 11. However, in
view of the bird's rather bown plumage and the small
tuft of yellow feathers on the wing, my guess is that
it is more likely to be a regular Chiffchaff.
The Siberian Chiffchaff has a much greyer and colder
looking plumage than this.
TUESDAY
DECEMBER 23 - 2014
Malcolm
Phillips had a good morning on the meadow during which
he got some good views of the Siberian Chiffchaff in
Palmer's Road Copse. Malcolm's excellent photo shows
well the main distinguishing features of the bird;
grey-brown on crown, nape and mantle (no trace of
green) and light rusty-buff on the supercilium,
ear-coverts and neck and breast sides (no trace of
yellow). Bill and legs are always black on this bird.
SUNDAY
DECEMBER 21 - 2014
A cold and
bleak midwinter's day indeed. I went over to Brook
Meadow late morning and met Malcolm Phillips on the
main river path, looking very cold. Malcolm had not
seen the Siberian Chiffchaff, but a couple of visiting
birders, one with an enormous lens on his camera, said
they had seen it earlier. We went down to the south
meadow and I played my song recording several times
with no effect.
I went back home for lunch, but Malcolm stayed on and
was rewarded with good views of what I assume is the
Siberian Chiffchaff along the river bank in Palmer's
Road Copse. That is the small woodland adjacent to
Palmer's Road Car Park. Grid Ref: SU 751 058. It is
quite close to the south meadow where the bird has
frequently been seen.
SATURDAY
DECEMBER 20 - 2014
I went over to
Brook Meadow at about 12 noon today armed with a
freshly recorded Siberian Chiffchaff song on my
digital recorder. I headed for the south meadow where
I played the recording at first with no obvious
effect. It was not until Barry Collins and a couple of
other birdwatchers turned up that the Chiffchaff made
an appearance, seemingly coming across the bramble
hedge from the garden of Gooseberry Cottage. The bird
came really close to where we were all standing,
fluttering its wings in apparent display. This was
exactly the same behaviour that Peter Milinets-Raby
and I witnessed on Dec 17 when Peter played the song
on his phone. We could not have hoped for a better
view of what I assume was the Siberian Chiffchaff.
Fortunately, Malcolm Phillips turned up in time to
capture some images of the bird, though that was not
easy with the bird against the sky for most of the
time.
Barry reminded me that
he and I had seen two Siberian Chiffchaffs many years
ago at the Thornham Lane sewage works. I had forgotten
this. Barry dug out the information from his files
that two were there from 16th Jan to 1st Feb 2001 and
one still there on 1st and 2nd March 2001.
Interestingly, as I
was playing the recording of the Siberian Chiffchaff a
Robin also appeared to have responded to the song,
coming close to where we were standing, with a song of
its own plus a bit of wing quivering. Presumably the
Robin interpreted the recording as indicating the
presence of another Robin in the vicinity, the two
songs being not entirely dissimilar. I must admit this
alerted me to the possibility that the bird responding
initially to the recording might have been a common
Chiffchaff rather than a Siberian Chiffchaff. Hmm.
Malcolm had
actually been on the meadow for a couple of hours
before I met up with him and had got a photo of a
common Chiffchaff with what looks like a metal
ring on its right leg, but the definition on the
photo does not allow one to read any lettering that
could identify the bird. This photo was taken near the
S-bend in the river, which is about 100 metres north
of where we had the Siberian Chiffchaff. The bird
identified as a Siberian Chiffchaff does not have a
ring. Nor does it have the yellow tinge to its
plumage, which is indicative of a common Chiffchaff.
THURSDAY
DECEMBER 18 - 2014
While I was on
the meadow this morning, I met a local birder in the
south meadow named Malcolm Greenwood who had come to
look for the Siberian Chiffchaff. He told me he had
only recently moved into the area and had made friends
with Dick Senior, another local birder. We both saw a
Chiffchaff of some sort flitting around in the trees,
but against the sky it was impossible to determine if
it was the Siberian. A tape lure is certainly the best
solution. This afternoon, I printed off a couple of
Malcolm's photos of the Siberian Chiffchaff and put
them in the Lumley and south gate signcases.
WEDNESDAY
DECEMBER 17 - 2014
I met up with
Peter Milinets-Raby and Malcolm Phillips on Brook
Meadow at 1.15pm to look for the unusually grey
Chiffchaff that Malcolm photographed on Dec 11, Dec 15
and Dec 16 which Peter thought could be a Siberian
Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita
tristis). We started off on the main river
path near the S-bend in the river. However, despite a
fairly thorough search of the area using Peter's
special tristis song and call on his S4 mini
mobile phone we found no sign of the bird or any other
Chiffchaffs.
We were on the verge of giving up, when walking back
through the south meadow, Peter decided to try the
song again. Hey presto, along came what Peter was
fairly sure was the Siberian Chiffchaff from its very
cold grey plumage. It was clearly attracted by the
song on the phone and flittered around in the trees
above our heads, constantly flicking its wings in
apparent display. Then, to our surprise another two
Chiffchaffs appeared, all actively moving around in
the trees, but Peter was fairly sure these were common
Chiffchaffs from their browner plumage. South meadow
Grid Ref: SU 751 059
Malcolm
and Peter looking for the Siberian Chiffchaff on the
south meadow of Brook Meadow
We watched the birds
for about 20 minutes as they constantly moved through
the trees and got fairly adept at picking out the
Siberian one. Malcolm took some photos which came out
reasonably well despite the overcast conditions. Even
though we did not hear any call or song, Peter left
saying he was 98% confident that this was a Siberian
Chiffchaff and and has placed one of Malcolm's photos
on the 'Going Birding' web site. http://www.goingbirding.co.uk/hants/show_photo.asp?photo_id=5304
Here
is Malcolm's best shot of the Siberian Chiffchaff from
today
TUESDAY
DECEMBER 16 - 2014
Malcolm
Phillips has been on the meadow over the past few days
in search of the very grey Chiffchaff that he
photographed on Dec 11 and that Peter Milinets-Raby
thinks could be a Siberian Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus
collybita tristis).
Yesterday, Malcolm got a couple of photos of a
Chiffchaff, near the S-bend in the river where the
Water Rail hangs out, both of which shows a bird with
similar cold grey plumage to the earlier one.
Here
are Chiffchaffs taken on December 15th
On today's visit
Malcolm again got a couple of photos of what was
probably the same bird as yesterday, but a bit further
upstream by the old gasholder. I have passed all these
onto Peter to see what he makes of them.
Here
are Chiffchaffs taken on December 15th
Peter Milinets-Raby
comments: The 15th December bird is almost
certainly the same individual, so like a possible
Siberian Chiffchaff - based on those papers -
interesting ID points are, more prominent supercilium,
more prominent black alula, fine off-white wing bar
along the edge of the scapulars and whitish panel in
the closed wing.
The 16th December bird is more like a normal
Chiffchaff with greenish tinges to the wings, olive
colours in the mantle, though after reading those
articles, it still could just be a trick of the light,
BUT the 16th December bird does not have a indistinct
wing bar!!!
SATURDAY
DECEMBER 13 - 2014
Mystery
Chiffchaff
Peter
Milinets-Raby thinks the Chiffchaff that Malcolm
Phillips photographed by the south bridge on Brook
Meadow on Dec 11 is too grey for a regular Chiffchaff.
Malcolm's photo shows a very grey, cold cast to the
plumage and Peter considers the bird is potentially a
Phylloscopus collybita tristis -
Siberian Chiffchaff. This is an eastern race of
Chiffchaff which breeds in coniferous taiga forest
from the Ural region eastwards. It winters mainly in
India, though odd birds stray to Western Europe
annually in autumn (end Sep-Oct). Peter recommends
visiting the following page to get an idea of recently
photographed birds to understand why Malcolm's bird
has potential as a Siberian Chiffchaff . . .
http://www.birdguides.com/species/species.asp?tx=1311
The best ID pointer is the bird's call, described in
the Collins Guide as "a mournful piping, straight (or
negligibly downslurred) 'viip'". Its song is faster
and more varied than the standard Chiffchaff. However,
Malcolm did not hear a call or song.
THURSDAY DECEMBER 11 -
2014
Malcolm
Phillips spent most of the day going round the meadow
trying to find a Water Vole, but without any success.
More interesting were photos of two wintering warblers
which Malcolm spotted on the meadow. The
Chiffchaff by the south bridge was not all that
surprising, as we have a regular wintering population
on Brook Meadow, though it was the first I have had
reported this winter. It was an unusually grey bird.