Whitethroat

I bumped into Rob Collis the other day, doing his monthly survey of birds at Filnore Woods.  I asked him what less common species he had seen or heard that day and one he mentioned was the whitethroat.

This member of the warbler family comes to us from south of the Sahara and stays from May to August.

Bird books are rather rude about whitethroats, I think.  They are said to be rather slow and heavy with a big head and a long tail.  The churring call sounds like "chair, chair chair" and the song, according to my Collins Bird Guide is " a short, fast verse with scratchy hoarse, gruff voice, delivered in jerky and jolting rhythm."

They seem to nest in the brambles alongside the steep path between posts 2 and 3.  We are very glad to welcome them to Filnore, however bad-tempered they seem to be.

This video by 'the bald ibis' (thank you) shows the grey head, orange wing-edges and white throat and eventually you get to hear him singing.