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Warbler? Rainham Marshes, Essex Kent (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter GorgeousTony
- Start date
GorgeousTony
Well-known member
thanks guys. There were also Stonechat not far away so I suspected it might be, but was hoping for something else.
Tony
Tony
TomSmith
Well-known member
I agree: too brown around the head for a male. A great little bird even if it isn't what you were hoping for!
GorgeousTony
Well-known member
I agree. Have to say Stonechats are one of my favourites and a couple of males gave a great display earlier in the day.
Jan-Paul Charteris
Sussex birder and budding moth enthusiast
I'd agree with female Stonechat... think I'd take issue with the thread title though, not so much because it wasn't a warbler (2-bird theory - wouldn't be surprising if there was a Dartford following it around 
), but more because I haven't heard of the famous Rainham or Essex in Kent
Jan
), but more because I haven't heard of the famous Rainham or Essex in Kent Jan
GorgeousTony
Well-known member
hmmm, not sure where the Kent came from
female stonechat, dartford warbler
undoubtedly. The first thing you'll notice about a Dartford warbler, which were upgraded to internationally 'near threatened' by the way on the recent IUCN redlist, is the long tail and dark overall appearance. O.k. two things.
But the tail's a giveaway. I have them in the scrub at the back of the house. When they fly they appear to bounce off the top of the vegetation they fly so low and undulating.
Good luck finding one.
undoubtedly. The first thing you'll notice about a Dartford warbler, which were upgraded to internationally 'near threatened' by the way on the recent IUCN redlist, is the long tail and dark overall appearance. O.k. two things.
But the tail's a giveaway. I have them in the scrub at the back of the house. When they fly they appear to bounce off the top of the vegetation they fly so low and undulating.
Good luck finding one.
Kev23
Woodlarks DO exist...
Agreeing with the stonechat comments, nice birds to photo too as they like perching on top of bushes. A good place to find Dartford Warblers Tony is on the Surrey heathland areas of Frensham or Thursley Commons (down the A3 past Guildford!) which is where I snapped this one a couple of months ago. The red eye-ring is a give away but I guess if you get close enough to see that, it would be easily to ID on a lot of other fronts!
Kev
Kev
Attachments
colonelboris
Right way up again
Another good place is Yateley Common South on the A30 near Camberley. At some points, you can hardly walk for a minute without seeing one. When I was still fairly new to this, I'd gone looking there for Stonechats and saw a Dartford instead. Took me a few minutes to convince myself I hadn't made some major mistake in identification.
lostinjapan
Well-known member
There have been 2 or 3 Dartfords wintering at Rainham (which is most deffo in Essex as Kent is on other side of river). However, there are also around 20 Stonechats there and the bird in the photo is a young Stonechat.
GorgeousTony
Well-known member
Thanks guys. Very much appreciate the advice on where to go to see Dartfords. I think I'll persevere with Rainham for now as I've only been there the once and was more interested in seeing the Serin (which I did !), but Dartfords are on my hit list now.
Tony
Tony
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