help but no pic again sorry

[epops]

today at one of our feeders we briefley had a smallish bird that looked remarkably like a chiff chaff but not having the camera and scope set up i could'nt be sure cause it looked a bit greyer in colour and when it flew away the wings seemed to not look right its stumped me and cant seem to find anything in any of me books like it now me camera is set up incase its back tommorrow not much of a descrition i know but it was literally there for just a few secondswhen i noticed it

[tufftie]

Could it have been a willow warbler - there have been records of them over wintering?

[GuyF]

Was it actually feeding from the feeders? As far as I know Chiffchaffs don't do this so if it was feeding then that probably rules Chiffchaffs out. However I've seen them perch on feeding stations before and at this time of year they're (along with Blackcaps) the most likely warbler to be seen in most parts of the country. Also, although they're pretty rare birds, there are a few Siberian Chiffchaffs wintering in Britain each year, and this race tends to be paler and greyer than our normal Chiffchaffs.
Guy

[m1.carson]

Hi,

I thought willow warblers did over winter, there's lots down here.

Max.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by m1.carson

Hi,

I thought willow warblers did over winter, there's lots down here.

Max.

No, it's quite rare for them to winter- there's only been the odd record some years. I suspect the birds you have are probably Chiffchaffs which are now regular winter visitors in small numbers + we do get greyish Siberian birds too as Guy suggests.

[epops]

thanks for the replies all despite my poor description sorry i forgot to mention the chiff chaff or whatever it was was just perched on the feeder it did return again today but i missed it mrs epops saw it so we still not sure what it is so i'll stick with chiff i think till i can see it properly