Yellow-browed Warblers in Lothian Sept 2013

One of two Yellow-browed Warblers at Scoughall today

With unprecedented numbers along the east coast of Scotland, we are in the middle of the largest invasion of Yellow-browed Warblers into Lothian. Today Mike H managed to see 9 in total! There have been approximately 19 birds recorded since Wednesday morning in the region with site maxima of 3 at each of Barns Ness old campsite, Whitesands triangle and Scoughall, two seen at each of Torness, Thorntonloch, Skateraw and Dunglass and the single bird that I heard at Seacliff on Friday (now safely confirmed after hearing another 5 birds over the weekend...).  The distribution closely matches the 75 previous records in Lothian. Even more exciting is the real possibility of more arrivals with the wind swinging easterly again today. In addition we may have a run of records away from the coast as the high numbers in the northern isles start to filter south.

 

One thing that has always puzzled me about the Yellow-browed Warbler is its latin name Phylloscopus inornatus. The genus is understandable as it is one of the leaf-peeping warblers that gleans its insect food from foliage, but inornatus implies a terrible blunder in suggesting that this multiply striped sprite is 'un-ornate'. I literally dusted off the Old Handbook (Witherby et al.) and the answer was supplied. The initial latin binomial was Motacilla superciliosus. Now if we can ignore the genus (Motacilla was used much more widely for passerines in the 18th century) the specific name seems so much better. Unfortunately it soon turned out that another 18th century taxonomist had already used this latin name for another species so the name could not be used for the YBW. Instead an alternative was found in the literature as the Yellow-brow had also been described by Blyth as Regulus inornatus - essentially calling it the 'Crownless Kinglet' or something similar. Further readjustment was to the current genus, but the specific name has had to stick. Well, I'm looking forward to finding a Crownless Kinglet in Edinburgh - maybe the royal parks would be worth a shot?...

Siberian Lesser Whitethroat?, Seacliff

This week has been frustrating bird-wise. I have dashed off to the coast after work on several days to enjoy the amazing fall of Yellow-browed Warblers that have arrived from Asia. Of the 8, 10 and 7 reports over the last 3 days in Lothian I have managed to see precisely none. Site high totals this week have been Barns Ness and Whitesands 6, and Torness, Thorntonloch, Skateraw and Scoughall all with 2 apiece. So, somewhere between 14 and 25 birds perhaps. The sites have tended to be very quiet in the late afternoon and early evening periods that I have managed to visit and it has left me wondering whether the birds have moved on already given the improvement in the weather since Wednesday morning - or whether they are jet-lagged and keeping a central Asian time clock?...

Underside of tail just visible before it disappears into the sea buckthorn

Today I'm pretty sure that I did hear a Yellow-browed Warbler briefly at Seacliff but could not locate - there is quite an area of sycamores to search. Instead the highlight was this Lesser Whitethroat which looked to me to be of the Siberian subspecies blythi although it is not possible to be really sure without much better views combined with DNA testing most likely. Anyway it was a bright brown above (including crown) rather than the more normal dull tones of our subspecies with great contrast between the throat and the flanks. In addition it certainly appeared to have white outer tail feathers with dark shafts. None of these features have come out well in the photos unfortunately. In terms of call a blackcap-like 'tack' but no distinctive churr heard. So one that I think I should pop back and try for again.

Yellow-browed Warblers in Lothian

Spot the Yellow-browed Warbler - in White Sands Triangle wood in 2010

As far as I know there have been 75 records of Yellow-browed Warbler in Lothian. The first record was in September 1976 and it has increased in frequency to the point that it has now been seen every year in Lothian since 1998. Well, it hasn't been seen yet in Lothian in 2013 - but that will undoubtedly change over the next few days with a wave of these Siberian waifs currently heading our way across the North Sea. Both 2005 and 2010 are the stand-out years so far with 13 and 10 records apiece, with the next-best year being 2011 with 6 records. There must be others that have not made it into the record books as the YBW is often fast moving and elusive in the foliage - for example I never submitted a brief view of one in Seacliff woods in 2005.

So, if you are planning on bumping in to one of these in the next few days you could do worse than pop along to Barns Ness/White Sands Bay area (32 previous records) - the old caravan site and the triangular wood at White Sands are good sites. Further SE along the coast at Skateraw there have been 16 records, with 7 at Torness, 7 at Thorntonloch and 1 at Bilsdean. Alternatively, there are also 7 records from Scoughall but none that I know of from the woods around Tynningham - maybe they just melt away in all that habitat. There is also a surprising general absence of records away from the coast, other than three records (in two different years) from Oxwell Mains. The latter, I assume, shows that hard work on a local patch away from the coast can pay dividends... Maybe someone will find one in Edinburgh if we really do have a bumper crop this year.

Edit: 25 Sept 2013

As widely predicted the first YBW's of the autumn arrived in Lothian this morning with light easterlies and drizzle. A total of eight birds have been reported from all the usual locations as far as I know making today the best single day to see Yellow-browed Warbler in Lothian. I managed to avoid them despite several hours after work in Torness, Thorntonloch and Skateraw... I think that the clear skies and sun later on encouraged the birds to head off as soon as possible.