Kent is proving to be a hotspot at the moment and we headed back there this morning hoping to see our first Sardinian Warbler.
It's a new site for us and this caused a few problems in finding the exact area. Luckily the finder Jamie P was in the cafe when Brian went in to ask for directions. It was a short but steep climb up the path to reach the area the warbler had been favouring. An hour passed with no sight or sound of the target bird, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Robin, Blackbird, and Goldfinch were all seen or heard within the immediate area and we enjoyed close views of Peregrine, Buzzard, and Hobby overhead.
Then the Sardinian Warbler called from close by, a fast rattling "ctret-tret-tret-tret" deep within the bushes. Then a quieter shorter sub-song was heard briefly before I caught a glimpse of the bird as it flew between bushes.
Another birder thought he had the bird further down the valley, only for it to be identified as a Lesser Whitethroat when it appeared among the tree branches. We returned to stake out the original scrub and heard the bird calling several times but still no sightings. Then it began calling from the opposite side of the path remaining hidden deep within the bushes. Suddenly a Whitethroat flew into the same area and the Sardinians flew out low across the path back into the scrub.
We spent six hours on-site, hearing the bird numerous times but frustratingly only ever getting fleeting glimpses of it in flight or edging its way through thick cover.
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| Not a bad place to spend a morning |
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| Scrub areas favoured by the Sardinian Warbler |
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