September was excellent. Some very successful trips to see great birds. But one bird stands out.
My rare warbler list is a bit, ahem, thin. Late autumn ones are fine but the classic drift migrant ones are largely absent from my list. So news of an Arctic Warbler adjacent to Abberton Church meant I felt compelled to go.
A rare bird can really ruin your day, and I departed for Abberton on morning of Saturday 6th with a great deal of apprehension. As I found a distant parking spot and walked up to the church to see lots of men of a certain age milling aimlessly around I felt all my worst predictions of a couple of hours of frustration before leaving empty handed were coming true. But then local birder Laurence started waving from the middle of a field and gesticulating towards a large hedge, and after a sprint that would have impressed Usain Bolt I was watching the rare warbler working its way trough the vegetation. For five minutes it gave great views, all I could wish for, then disappeared briefly so I headed back. Fantastic.
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