Peterborough Bird Club annual report Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata | A* | Vagrant 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003
2003	Vagrant. A male found at Stanground Wash on 10 Dec (BHS et al) was a first for the PBC area, only the third in Cambridgeshire and the first twitchable one! It remained until the end of the year. Dartford Warbler: First for PBC area - Brian Stone Wednesday, 10 December 2003 was certainly a day to remember. I was tempted to have another go for the Siberian Chiffchaff, found at Tanholt GP a few days before by John Oates, but, as I hadn't checked out the Padholme/Stanground patch for a while, I decided to take a bike around there during my lunchbreak. I check out the Sewage Works and outfall here regularly for Green Sandpipers, Grey Wagtails and the like and always take a look at the washland opposite where Short-eared and Barn Owl are regular as well as Stonechats and the like. What I didn't expect was what looked like a brown Long-tailed Tit bouncing towards me through the vegetation along the bank of the River Nene. As it passed just below me I couldn't quite believe I was having point blank views of a Dartford Warbler. The bird stayed on the bank next to me for a while but, although it allowed me time to get some excellent scope views, just as I went for the camera, it flew to the far side of the opposite river bank out of sight. The following 20 or 30 nerve-wracking minutes seemed like an eternity as local birders started arriving and there was no sign of the bird. Finally, Steve Dudley though he glimpsed the bird in flight briefly and very shortly afterwards I caught sight of it near some Stonechats some way from where I had last seen it. Subsequent views were more distant but I was extremely relieved that there was something for the arriving hoards to see. It showed quite well at times and I was eventually able to obtain two record shots. The bird unfortunately ranged widely across the wash and could be difficult to locate at times, but was always more or less opposite the sewage works or a little to the east. The best tip for relocating it (as John Oates helpfully pointed out while we were trying to relocate it) was to look for the Stonechats. The bird was almost always either right with them or not far away. Both species preferred the scattered clumps of brown decaying thistle. The depth of colour, on the underside particularly, clearly indicates this is a male, although they are practically impossible to age at this time of year.
2002	No records.
2001	No records.
2000	No records.
1999	No records.
1998	No records.
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