Yellow-browed Warbler

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.

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.