Mid-morning, I received a text from Rob Jones, who was at Fowlmere doing his normal spring week-off-work everyday stint. He had briefly seen and heard an interesting all grey Warbler making a short ‘grating’ sound. After asking him for more details as to possible genus, of which he said probably a Sylvia, I suggested possibly a Dartford Warbler.
A few hours later he texted again to say he’d seen it again (it was on the Guilder Brook) and thought it may be Dartford. I immediately left what I was doing and joined him. After fifteen or so minutes, I suggested playing the call, and when I did, Rob wasn’t quite so sure that it matched, but said it was similar. There was no response from the bird. I tried another few calls (from Xeno-Canto), but still no joy.
After another fifteen minutes or so, without letting Rob know, I played the call of the Mamoroa’s Warbler. Rob immediately said “that’s it”. He was shocked when I told him what I had just played! And so was I when the bird started calling a few minutes later! We both got short glimpses of a shape, but nothing more.
Nothing further for a while and so we split up to try different parts of the hedgerow. After another twenty minutes or so, and still no more sightings I walked back to Rob to tell him I needed to go as I had work to do, and that I’d be back down later. But then the bird started calling again so we walked down to where it was and both got good, but completely silhouetted views of the bird. It was clearly a Dartford-type of bird. Very small with a very long ‘spikey’ looking tail, that was held upright. It then disappeared from view so I played the Marmora's call again and the bird flew closer into the top of a nearby Hawthorn. It was all grey and looked to me like a Marmora's!!! It disappeared as quickly as it arrived. And that was the last I saw of it.
Despite much searching by Rob in the afternoon (I had to leave) and several other observers, there was only one further sighting of a confirmed Dartford-type bird the rest of the day until dusk.
A fly-over Little Egret wasn’t much compensation.
