This week saw a rare
visitor turn up on the banks of the Guadalquivir in Cordoba. A Yellow-browed
Warbler was seen in the poplar trees at Molino de Martos. It was very active,
hopping from branch to branch in search of insects and occasionally being
chased off by a Black Redstart. It had greenish upperparts and a distinct long
pale yellow supercilium.
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| Yellow-browed Warbler |
This leaf warbler’s
breeding range extends from just west of the Ural Mountains to eastern Siberia
and Mongolia. Although they normally winter in southern Asia, they are
sometimes found in northern Europe in October and November. And since 2014 they
have started coming to Spain in regular numbers with between 4 and 38
individuals seen each year. At first these sightings were thought to be
migrants who had got lost or been blown of course but it now seems that they
may in fact be part of a pioneering group which are dispersing into new areas.
In fact there does appear to be a small population wintering in the Canary Islands.
So it seems that this is a bird we are likely to see with increasing frequency
in the years to come.
