ID Confirmation Please

[thud]

This little bird dropped in late on Monday afternoon - it was dark and positively persisting.

As I scrambled for my camera it went into a 'clown on a tightrope' routine, so I managed to get a couple of shots. Then it hopped from the line into the apple tree and was gone.

I'm guessing it was a Chiff-chaff or a Willow Warbler wearing black tights, but would appreciate any ID advice.

PS. Are those really white tail feathers, or just the light?

[PiratesAhoy!]

I would tend to say a young willow warbler - one of this year's young I think. The yellow tinged chest seems to point towards that rather than a chiffchaff, which are more olive/brown.

Tail isn't white - just translucent. Trick of the light :)

[Jandy]

I would agree with Pirates Ahoy, except that my book says definitely that the willow warbler has pale legs and the chiffchaff has darker legs, and the illustrations bear this out, with the willow warbler's pale pink, and the chiffchaff's dark brown, though it does show the latter with dark feet as well, not "footless tights"! Did you get to hear its song at all?

Terrific photos, by the way!

[thud]

Hi Pirate, thanks Jandy.

I have spent some hours poring over my books since Monday. I know they are both 'common' birds but I've never seen one close to before. The nearest illustration I can find is of a young Willow Warbler. One of my references says the Chiffchaff has a more 'domed' head - this seemed to me to be flatter, more like the comparison drawing of a WW. It also gave some difference in the protrusion of the primaries beyond the tertiaries, but I don't have a shot that would let me check that. Then there are the legs.

Since he had alighted on the washing line I was viewing from below. It was chucking it down and very gloomy. Suddenly I became aware of a light-lemon (very similar colour to our young Blue Tits) puff ball doing acrobatics on the line. I didn't see him arrive, didn't hear anything except rain (the patio door was closed) and I didn't see him leave - he just became invisible in the tree. When I viewed the shots I'd taken, my first reaction was that my camera had over-compensated for the bad light and leached the lemon out!

I wondered if the dark legs could be shadow, although how you get shadow when it's so gloomy I don't know. Checking through the snaps again I found this poor one (during its acrobatics). The back leg seems to be 'lit'. But it's still very dark...

[Jandy]

Yes, it's a curious case, isn't it? I suppose it's impossible for a W Warbler and a Chiffchaff to interbreed? What do you think?

[thud]

I honestly don't know Jandy, but a similar thought that goes through my head when something isn't quite right.

The trouble is the camera can play tricks, particularly in bad light. I have another (poor) shot in this sequence (when I say a couple of shots I really mean ten or so!) where one of the bird's feet seems to be missing.

It will probably have to remain as 'unknown' for a while. Speaking of which, I was checking my archive last week and back in 2007 found four or five shots marked 'unknown'. They were of a young House Sparrow. Obviously what passes for a brain here used to slip out of gear in 2007 - that makes me feel a lot better :-)

[Nature__Lover]

It looks rather like a Sedge warbler, as well.
Maybe slightly paler, because it is young?
heres a pic of one, although it's not my picture!
http://www.kenyabirds.org.uk/sedge.htm

???

[thud]

I suppose it could also be a Wood Warbler - the only one that my references use 'lemon' to describe.

In last month's (Aug) Birdwatching Magazine they have a query about two bird shots (letters page right at the back). The left hand shot I would have annotated Chiff Chaff (a brown bird) whereas the right hand shot was very greeny-yellow - I'd have thought Willow Warbler. (If there were only the two choices).

The folks answering the query pronounced that both were probably Willow Warblers - apparently since both had lighter coloured feet. The printed shots were a bit small but they may have both had dark legs.

Mine stays 'Unknown' till I've seen some more :-)