Saturday 8 October 2016

Eastern Crowned Warbler ........ At Bempton Cliffs

Yellow Browed Warbler.

Last Thursday the 6th October my destination was Holy Island in Northumberland and then Bempton Cliffs on the way back , my target birds were White's Thrush on Holy Island and Eastern Crowned Warbler at Bempton Cliffs , these would have both been very much welcome year ticks for myself.

I was just heading through Newcastle when negative news came through regarding the White's Thrush on Holy Island , i was still over an hour away from that location so made the decision to cut my loses and head back towards Bempton Cliffs , this proved the right decision as the White's Thrush wasn't seen again .

I eventually arrived at Bempton Cliffs at about 11.30am and made my way around to join the already gathered birders , first bird i saw was a delightful Yellow Browed Warbler , which was quickly joined by a Greenish Warbler and both species dropped down to drink from water below the trees , wow what a start and within seconds the Eastern Crowned Warbler made an appearance with all three species seen in the same area .

Eastern Crowned Warbler.

Broad supercillium.

Yellow undertail coverts

Central crown stripe.

Eastern Crowned Warbler.


A really fantastic birding session here , the trees were alive with birds , i saw at least 2 Yellow Browed Warblers plus several Chiffchaffs and a single Blackcap .

Other birds of note were 2 Brambling & several Goldcrests , i decided after nearly 2 hours of warbler watching to try and see the Bluethroat which had been showing on & off along the coastal footpath however by the time i got there it had been flushed by a dog and flown into cover , i gave it half an hour without success but had some fantastic views of Gannets whilst i waited , i then decided to have one more look at the Eastern Crowned Warbler before i headed back home .

Gannet with a beak full of seaweed.

I arrived back at the warbler bushes and heard that there was an Arctic warbler being seen around the other side so i headed of there but had no luck with this but i did get decent views of the Greenish Warbler again. 

Greenish Warbler.

Greenish Warbler.

A last look at the Eastern Crowned Warbler before i headed home after a very long day indeed , many thanks to Jonathan.F. & Joe.D. for some local information.

Eastern Crowned Warbler.















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