fledgelings...OMG

actionfinch · #1 (**permalink**) 17-08-2011, 10:23 AM

A morning spent up Tring resi's yesterday..2 newbies spotted

(see year list thread) and hundreds of lapwings..

never seen so many.. but the highlight to some point, has to be spotting movement ahead of me, when I had walked around the top end of the reseviour. Frozen in my tracks, i could see approx 5 little 'warbler' type birds..

Bins to my eyes i couldnt get a proper fix as they were fliting about here and there and at times see them having a feedfrom parent... My warbler id is poor at the best of times and no proper field guide to help

a voice recording on my phone was no good and a picture on it revealed nothing .
I stood there about 10 yds away from 2 of them, observing and see the rest flying about the bushes...

It was an amazing experience and after taking a few notes down, and trying my hardest to listen and remember a call they were making , i have come to an (un)official conclusion they were chiffchaffs...

Young robins blue tits ..etc etc... is great in the garden but in the wild...just brill

htcdude · #2 (**permalink**) 17-08-2011, 10:28 AM

Nice one Finch!

I know you know the Chiffchaff song, so if it was singing something different (like notes descending) then plump for Willow Warbler.

However if it wasn't singing, and just making a 'chirp' kinda call, bit more difficult to separate, but the WW sounds softer (IMO).

A nice sight to see nevertheless

Nige

RoyW · #3 (**permalink**) 17-08-2011, 11:02 AM

I think that you're pretty much on your own with this ID.

It would be very unusual for fledglings or the accopanying adults to be singing, and calls of fledglings often don't sound quite like the adults. If they looked like Willow/Chiffs, Chiffchaff calls tend to sound more 'slurred' than those of Willow Warbler (which sound more like two seperate notes) but it's not always an easy distinction to make.