SUFFOLK: Lowestoft Hume's Warbler

20th November 2011

A couple of people had sent me messages during the week suggesting that I should go and see a Hume's Warbler in the middle of Lowestoft. Phrases like "great views" and "you can't miss it" were dangerously bandied about. As it happened Norwich was completely enveloped by fog, so a trip out seemed a good idea, even if it was to Suffolk. Cathy located the alley where the bird had been, which quite frankly looked more likely to host a body than a rare bird. A couple with binoculars confirmed we were in the right place, but the only bird there today was one Blue Tit. Bugger. Luckily all was not lost. Lowestoft is so good for birds, if one leaves, there is always another one just up the high street. So it proved here, and I finally did see a Hume's Warbler, albeit a bit further away than the first bird would have been, feeding merrily in trees behind the Royal Falcon. Why don't we get birds like this in Yarmouth I wondered, oblivious to the fact one had been found in Yarmouth that morning. Having run out of 'foot-in-mouth' moments, we went home.