Another interesting Chiffchaff. This one was at Broom GP. I initially saw two birds in the willows - one dingy grey collybita type which was calling constantly, and then this bird. I hadn't noticed it until I tried playing tristis song at the collybita bird (just to see if it would react more than anything else), and this bird popped out from the bottom of some willows and started flapping its wings and bouncing around the branches above me. Unfortunately this bird remained silent throughout.
Plumage wise this is an odd bird. From a distance it looks buffy and brown, with the only real green around the wings and tail. Up close the green is much more evident, especially around the mantle, flanks and in the supercillium. The two chiffchaffs in this clump also act differently - the collybita is often much higher up in the top third of the willows, but this bird is usually at the very bottom - usually in the bottom two feet, just above the water.
To say that chiffchaffs do my head in is an understatement! As others have said, its redpolls all over again...
