Lesser Whitethroat ssp.

This bird conveniently favoured some trees in front of the offices of Nene Park Trust along Ham Lane near the entrance to Ferry Meadows Country Park west of Peterborough.

A remarkable late date for this species - the latest for Cambs. There have been two overwintering birds, one of these was in the PBC area at Bainton from Jan-Apr 1991 and resembled the Siberian form blythi. The Ham Lane bird does not appear to be of the usual nominate curruca form either: it appears too brown-toned above, has a weak face mask, rather sullied underparts and the grey head does not contrast very strongly with the upperparts. It may also be rather short-winged and has rather pale outer tail feathers. It is possibly the halimodendri form but would perhaps need to be examined in the hand to be sure





Digiscoped with the Nikon CP995, Leica APO77 and 20x eyepiece.