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.