Pallas's Leaf Warbler: An early start with the plan to meet Gary Allwood at Attenborough NR to see the Pallas's warbler that has taken up resentment along the hedges along the railway boundary. The bird showed soon as we arrived but was tricky to track as it was constantly moving and forging in the vegetation.
These small leaf warblers are rare late-autumn visitors from Siberia, not many over winter in the UK. Although this winter aI've seen two now, one here and the other one inn Durham a few weeks back.
These are great little birds, they are about as small as a goldcrest with olive green backs, distinctive bright yellow rumps and dark green heads, that are clearly marked with a yellowish cap stripe and a brighter yellow supercilia.
Pallas’s warblers can best be distinguished from the similar looking cousins the yellow-browed warbler (P. inornatus) by the stripe on their cap and their bright yellow rump.
Having got our fill of this smart little bird we moved on before starting our survey and stopped off at Sherwood Forest hoping for lesser-spotted woodpecker. We had a good search and spoke to some other around the area but failed to connect with any.
Tawny Owl: Although we didn't see any any LSW's we did find the roosting tawny owl. Possibly the most photographed tawny owl in the UK right now with almost every other post on twitter showing the same sleeping owl.
A top morning with some great company and don't worry Gary mate, we'll nag the LSW soon enough.
