I received an unexpected phone call from Brian this morning, "There's an Asian Desert Warbler in Norfolk, I'll pick you up". Brian arrived shortly after 8am and we were on our way. The journey up the M11, A11, and A47 was trouble-free and we arrived at Winterton-on-sea beach car park around 10.15. After paying for two hours of parking we headed off into the dunes. We passed several returning birders who pointed us in the right direction toward the bird's location. As we approached the growing throng of birders the bird flew up and headed into a nearby tree. At first, I struggled to see the bird among the tangled branches, but with helpful directions from other birders, I soon got my first look at an Asian Desert Warbler! While we were present it stayed faithful to a small line of trees and bushes.
Asian Desert Warblers breed in the deserts of Central and Western Asia and the extreme eastern parts of Europe. It winters in the far north-east of Africa and south-western Asia.
There have been 13 previous records in Britain in nine counties. Dorset, Essex, East Yorkshire, Cheshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Devon, Norfolk and Northumberland. The first was in 1970 at Portland in Dorset and the most recent on Holy Island in Northumberland in 2020.
In five days, I have added four species to my life list. All of which have been warblers. Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Arctic Warbler, and Asian Desert Warbler.
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| Asian Desert Warbler |
While walking back to the car park I checked the news services and there was a Hoopoe twenty miles away in North Walsham. Thirty minutes later we are parked on Thirlby Road and watching the Hoopoe busily feeding on a small front lawn, seemingly oblivious to the people standing, crouching, and lying prone on the ground only a few feet away on the other side of the wall.
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