bogey bird - Melodious Warbler. Having assumed I would eventually nail a Malodorous Warbler on the south coast it was a bit of a surprise to be heading down the A1 to Retford to twitch a singing bird, a first for Nottinghamshire that somebody had pulled out of the bag in the Idle Valley.
I heard the bird as I approached a very Acro-like rapid twittering and churring with Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat tones, plus a section of rapidly-repeated Blackbird alarm calls. Quite different from the singing Icterines I have heard over here and if anything, a bit like Marsh Warbler. The bird was keeping down in a small pine plantation and was out of sight most of the time. After a while, it popped out in the open where I got good views of the bird's upper half. I didn't want to go until I had seen the wings and legs, so hung on for a while. Changing position the bird suddenly appeared on a bare pine branch and allowed good views for a few minutes as it sang incessantly. A smart bird and most unexpected British tick.
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