With the current light easterlies and numerous eastern vagrants turning up in the country at present we were hopeful of something. But living on the south coast of Britain and with the Isle of Wight just off shore, one has to remain grounded, and so we were hopeful of a Wryneck or just maybe a Barred Warbler. In our wildest dreams we have never really considered the chance of a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler and so when Barry returned from a net round with a very odd looking Grasshopper Warbler we didn't expect to see what appeared out of the bag.
Our initial impression was of a bird that was much darker than Grasshopper Warbler with yellow underparts and a finely spotted upper breast. The tail feathers were also extremely dark and the undertail coverts were un-streaked and a warm rusty colour. The bill was considerably larger that that of Grasshopper Warbler. Of course the features that give Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler its nickname of PG Tips are the pale tips to the tertials and the tips of the tail feathers. The pale tips to the tail feathers were not immediately obvious as the tail feathers were wet, but the pale fringing on the tertials, which forms a spot on the inner edge were quite blatant. The underside of the tail was very dark, almost black and the pale tips were extremely obvious from the underside. The series of photos below highlight the features of this truly stunning bird.
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| Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - Titchfield Haven - August 2014 |
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| Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - Titchfield Haven - August 2014 |
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| Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - Titchfield Haven - August 2014 |
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Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler showing pale tips to the tertials particularly
on the inner webs, and pale tips to the outer tail feathers - Titchfield Haven - August 2014 |
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Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, Note yellow underparts and fine spotting on the
throat- Titchfield Haven - August 2014 |
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Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler note un-streaked, and rust coloured undertail coverts, dark underside to the tail
feathers with broad pale tips - Titchfield Haven - August 2014 |
For comparison the next couple of pictures show the Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler with a yellow form of common Grasshopper Warbler. The image below doesn't really show the true extent of the difference in bill size, which appeared significant with the two birds together. The pale tips to the tertials, neat fringing and overall dark plumage, especially on the crown are extremely obvious.
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| Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler (Left) Grasshopper Warbler (Right) - Titchfield Haven - August 2014 |
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| Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler (Left) Grasshopper Warbler (Right) - Titchfield Haven - August 2014 |
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| Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler (Left) Grasshopper Warbler (Right) - Titchfield Haven - August 2014 |
Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler breeds in Siberia, parts of Central Asia, Mongolia and further east. If accepted this record will be the first of this species in Hampshire, and an extremely rare record on the south coast of Britain for a species which is more typical of Fair Isle or the Shetland Isles.
Wonderful! Isn't it September though??
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