Eastern Rufous Bush Chat

How could we resist? Linda and I held off from going for this spectacular rarity until (we hoped!) the crowds would have died down. We reckoned that the hardcore listers and still-employed birders would have filled up over the weekend, so that smaller, better distanced crowds would be present if we waited.

In the event, when we arrived at Stiffkey there were perhaps fifty people already on site: the tide, however was right in, so no sign of the target. As sometimes happens, though, I absolutely knew we would see the Bush Chat, so we went for a walk through campsite woods until the tide went out. Following good views of several Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Little Egrets, Brents and Kingfishers, we returned to the car park to find everyone had gone! This could only mean one thing, so we continued west, soon finding the gallery in a stubble field. After a short wait the Bush Chat suddenly popped up ten feet from me! Fabulous views, despite being all masked up (Not everyone else was being so considerate!) As people began to jostle, Linda and I left, heading east for a brief, fruitless search for a Dusky Warbler at Weybourne. (We did see a few Beardies, a Gannet and a couple of Eiders!)