Not a Sedge Warbler, today, Central Poland (1 Viewer)

[01101001]

habitat: marsh, ditches, lakes, extensive tall grass, bushes, trees

sitting in a bush, than flew to another, and then to another (not in the grass); pretty approachable, but not excessively (digiscoped with bins and phone)

called only once, just before it disappeared; thinnish, buzzy call???--not uniform (with a teck? at the beginning or at the end); I don't quite remember it well--a shame I didn't record it; surely not tecking the way reed warblers do?

all my photos (including the bad ones)

 

[dwatsonbirder]

It's a phllyosc, probably chiffchaff

 

[01101001]

Call quite unlike Chiffchaff? Plus the head pattern: dark crown, pale supercilium, thin dark eye stripe, pale moustachial stripe, dark sub-moustachial stripe? And overall brownish colouration?

EDIT: That's what I thought after I saw a brownish bird in a bush, but before I took the photos: it could be a Whitethroat or a Willow Warbler or a Reed/Marsh Warbler--why bother with the gear? But then I did take the photos because my bar for enjoyable birds is pretty low.

 

[Butty]

head pattern: dark crown, pale supercilium, thin dark eye stripe, pale moustachial stripe, dark sub-moustachial stripe

These are all features apparent in just one photo (in fact two, 641 & 642, but they're near-identical), and we know well the danger of relying on a single photo, especially where deceptive factors such as lighting, shadows, and lay of feathers come into play - in this case, especially in the malar area. The crown, for instance, is seen in other photos not to be dark.

overall brownish colouration

No - predominantly greenish in most photos where the upperparts show.

 

[01101001]

The contrast between the dark crown and the whitish supercilium is striking in 104654 (the third last picture), which makes 3, not 2, photos. And the bird was seen five metres from me on a sunny late morning (plus it was decidedly brownish in the field--I did look at it through the bins before I took the photos). Assuming those three shots are not deceptive, what bird could it be?

EDIT: My phonescoping kit works quite well, especially so at point-blank range; here's a photo of a Common Gull some 10 (or more?) metres away and another photo of a Common Gull some 50 metres away--both distances measured via Google Maps and Street View. And I've heard a Chiffchaff's call before, and it wasn't it.

 

[01101001]

The lower mandible looms reddish, but the tip appears dark (I believe a Sedge Warbler could show such a two-toned bill, which also helped sway me towards my initial ID), and the whole bill looks more stocky, more blunt tipped and slightly shorter than in Chiffchaff.

EDIT: What about an eastern vagrant?

 

[Butty]

contrast between the dark crown and the whitish supercilium is striking in 104654

That's an extremely low-quality (no offence) and confused image that I wouldn't want to draw any conclusions from at all.

I've heard a Chiffchaff's call before, and it wasn't it

Birds make odd noises.

 

[01101001]

Never heard a Chiffchaff make a trill or 'tick', but maybe?

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Here is a near identical individual - lighting and views combined with variability in plumage tones can provide confusion to the inexperienced or only on brief views. Did you exclude other birds calling unseen in the same area?

 

[01101001]

It shows some similarity, but lacks the dark crown (if the images are to be trusted) and extensive very pale area under the eye reaching farther to the back of the face (that's not surrounded by a faint semicircular stripe). The eye stripe (especially the loral part) should be a bit narrower, while the supercilium should be a bit wider, and there's no telling about the bil.

 

[Butty]

Never heard a Chiffchaff make a trill or 'tick', but maybe?

How about the short quiet merry 'chirrup' that forms part of chiffchaff song, audible only at close range?

 

[01101001]

It only vocalised once, before I lost sight of it (otherwise quiet). Not sure how short the call was. I haven't heard it sing. Could you give a sample--something like in this recording: ML36268 Common Chiffchaff Macaulay Library?

EDIT: I think it could've been longer, but perhaps not much (I don't remember)? I do think it was somewhat louder (I doubt I'd have heard this one in the field?). The bird was pretty timid as well because me and another non-birding companion talked loudly close to it, and it didn't flush, nor did it alarm at us.

EDIT 2: It was the only warbler we managed to see, and it kept close to the path (although we were also talking quite much, more than looking, and many Chiffchaffs were heard singing farther off). Only 3 Great Tits and a singing Yellowhammer were seen--both more distant and more shy. This bird hopped around a given bush, but I didn't see tail-flicking, which is not to say that it didn't flick its tail. Observed between 10:45 and 10:46.

 

[01101001]

Did you exclude other birds calling unseen in the same area?

I was close to the bush and to the bird with no other birds observed in the bush's vicinity, and I believe the call coincided with its disappearance.

In 104639 (not counting the low-quality 104564, which looks admittedly weird) the thin dark (and long, but still distinct and not merging with the background colour of the face) eye stripe meets with an equally dark nape, which your Chiffchaff doesn't show, and I think Chiffchaffs don't look like that in general.

 

[Butty]

In 104639 and the low-quality 104564 the dark (and long, but still distinct and not merging with the background colour of the face) eye stripe meets with an equally dark nape

No, this isn't so: you're looking at shadows and/or artefacts. You really are trying too hard here, and trying to drag things out of these very-low-quality photos (no offence) that are either highly dubious or just aren't there.
Birds come and birds go, and I don't see you getting any further with this one.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

I think you may be mistaking shadow for some contrasting feathering. Of the 30 or so species of Phylloscopus warblers I've seen, yours looks most like Chiffchaff - there are no other features present to suggest anything rarer.

 

[01101001]

No, this isn't so: you're looking at shadows and/or artefacts.

It can't be shadow (because it's the side of the bird directly exposed to the sun, and there are no such thin twigs in the bush), so then it must be another artefact (which would make it the third artefact-ridden photo)? Anyway, I'll try to refind it tomorrow.

I think you may be mistaking shadow for some contrasting feathering. Of the 30 or so species of Phylloscopus warblers I've seen, yours looks most like Chiffchaff - there are no other features present to suggest anything rarer.

Black-browed Reed Warbler - BirdForum Opus, for one, looks similar, which is not to say this is it (obviously)

 

[jogresh]

My first impression is Willow Warbler. I was watching one moving from willow bush to willow bush a couple of days ago. I reckon it's either this, or Chiffchaff as Dwatson suggests.

 

[01101001]

Do Chiffchaffs have such rounded wings--an artefact as well (maybe)? (Can you see the white border around the rounded edge of the wing when viewed against the paler back in the first photo?) Have you considered a Locustella sp. or a bush warbler (or a related bird)?

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Black-browed Reed Warbler - BirdForum Opus, for one, looks similar, which is not to say this is it (obviously)

That's an acrocephalus warbler...

 

[KenM]

Might help to compare 01101001, here are some BOC Chiffchaff shots that I took today.👍