Garden Willow Warblers

Autumn migration is now well underway and the rear hedgerow, which borders the Newlands Farm fields, is being used by a succession of Willow Warblers (& lesser numbers of Chiffchaffs) as they embark upon their southward journeys. For whatever reason, be that weather and/or light conditions, I have struggled to get any images of these neat little birds. When Bev and I were in Deal, a couple of days ago, I purchased a copy of the 3rd Edition Collins Bird Guide. I did so for no other reason than to keep abreast of what's the current state of play with various splits in several areas of bird id which have evolved over the past twenty years. I didn't think that I'd require any of this latest thinking, to separate Chiffchaff from Willow Warbler, yet must admit to being very impressed by the detail of the illustrations, in this latest version, that aid the field id of these two species.

Primary projection?
Willow Warbler at the top, Chiffchaff on the bottom

My 2nd Edition is a hardback copy which I purchased as soon as it was published, had never been opened since placing it onto my bookshelf , until last year. I got images of a Cory's Shearwater from a yacht off the coast of Kefalonia which, after conversation with Andy L. transpired to be a Scopoli's and, as such, a lifer! A species which isn't mentioned in the 1st edition as it hadn't then been split. My original paperback copy, 1st edition, remains my first choice of field guide whenever we travel abroad, purely because it is so dog-eared that further wear and tear won't make any significant difference to it's condition. The information contained, within the tatty covers, remains perfectly applicable in 99% of situations I'm likely to encounter on my holiday jaunts. Anything which requires further research to clinch an id can wait until we get back home.

Having got today's supermarket visit done and dusted, well before 11.30 hrs, I had plenty of time to play around with the camera kit out in the garden. The steady stream of high clouds, drifting across the skies, didn't make conditions particularly brilliant for getting images of the garden visitors but, the camera being far more talented than the long-haired clown holding it, some reasonable shots were obtained.

All in all, it was a pretty enjoyable session, standing out there in the back garden. A couple of Common Buzzards drifted south but that was about the sum of it.