Record shot – Isabelline Wheatear, Gun Hill

Having been denied the opportunity, through a conspiracy of commitments, to get up to Yorkshire to see the Siberian Accentor and the ‘supporting cast’ of Isabelline Wheatear, I was delighted this morning to read a pager message announcing the presence of another Isabelline Wheatear, this time on the Norfolk coast! By the time I’d gathered the family together and got down to the start of the Gun Hill track, a couple of hours had elapsed. However, I needn’t have stressed, as the bird was showing well immediately on arrival. There was a regular Wheatear close-by, to emphasise the differences, and a nice Pallas’s Warbler in a nearby bush to provide additional interest. A nice bird, a UK and a Norfolk tick to-boot.

Pallas’s Warbler – providing additional interest

‘regular’ Wheatear, providing a helpful comparison of id features

Another few record shots of the ‘star bird’, showing some of the key identification points: thick black tail band, upright stance, dark lores, plain wing coverts contrasting with black alula and overall greyish buff colouration