Iberian Chiffchaff in Lancashire
When I visited Spurn back in May, I recall being told that an Iberian Chiffchaff in Lancashire was still lingering. I was unable to divert to the site before getting a train from Preston on my way back, however, and I soon forgot about this bird, assuming that it had departed. I was woken out of this facile assumption, however, on the morning of Monday 3rd June, when I saw a post on social media linking to a blog post about someone having seen the bird the weekend just gone. At that stage, I had made plans to visit my friend Seán Ronayne in Catalunya for the coming weekend, so I started to peruse train and bus timetables online and see if I could divert on my way to Manchester Airport. As this proved feasible, I made the necessary arrangements, and eagerly got a bus from Lancaster to Pilling early on the morning of 7th June. The bus passed directly by the amenity area where this Iberian Chiffchaff has been holding territory, and, indeed, within 2 minutes or less of being dropped off,