Another photo of Probable SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF at Kings Langley

Revisiting the Possible SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF of recent at KLAS Kings Langley Fishery (Kings Langley Lake), I was looking through some of the photos again when I came across one I had overlooked as it was SO bad, but on closer inspection this pic may be the best one to show the bird as it looked in the field & also shows some of the identification features...

Probable SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF

Note the following in the photo:

• Greyer, paler nape than mantle & crown
• Slight green tinge only in flight feathers
• Faint wing-bar - sometimes mentioned in the identification of some 'Sibes'
• Pale grey patch on shoulder
• Buff supercillium (eye-stripe)
• Paleish cheek with darker rear/lower border - can see in this pic that the cheek is infact buff/tan toned
• Very pale (almost white) below
• Gentle buff tone in flanks - this photo is more true to the lighness of the buff colouration than the others
• General greyish-brown colouration with lack of yellow & greens despite yellowish cast to photo

A Google image search quickly brings up birds that seem to match this one. & with the combination of this & the call, which was bang-on for me, I'm now feeling pretty confident of its ID.

Link to the search... https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=siberian+chiffchaff&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=SDaYVN6xMMLlUsTagKgL&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=961

Tweet