Divine Desert Defector: A Star from the East

News of a mega on Holy Island was received with mixed emotions: it was the afternoon now and the prospect of a 5-hour round trip didn't exactly fill me with joy. The bird was showing well, though, the whether was decent enough and the tide was on my side. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and in the end I caved in. As it happened, I could not have been more fortunate. Despite not knowing specifically where to find the 'crowd of twitchers' I'd been told to look for by a follow birder in the car-park, I set out across the dunes and soon became dismayed by the numerous blind spots in the maze of hillocks and dells - and the distinct lack of 'blokes with bins'. Ironically, it was a female birder (with her partner) who eventually indicated where I should go, and before long I was alongside a handful of others waiting for the bird to show. I'm not sure exactly how elusive the rarity had been before my arrival but for once in my life, my presence seemed to kick-start the most amazing performance by this little gem. Within minutes, I was getting point-blank views of my first ever Asian Desert Warbler! Sure, this was no 'looker' but its rarity value was undisputed, and in a way, with its sandy brown plumage and bright yellow eye, you could easily imagine it flitting about amongst scant vegetation in some arid dust bowl. (It certainly looked a little odd hopping about in a lone pine tree!) In terms of detail, the photos reveal most of the salient features such that there is no point describing them here but of particular note were the bright yellow eyes, of course, the dull-yellow bill and legs, and the 'Nightingale-like' rufous rump and upper-tail coverts contrasting with the pale grey body tones. As though it had been awaiting my arrival, it proceeded to perch openly (when previously it had been quite stubborn, apparently) and then, believe it or not, began to preen, only yards from where I was standing. I was a bit disappointed with the shots I took - mostly slightly out of focus and with annoying twigs cluttering the image. These are probably my best - see below (the first with a heavily edited background). I then felt even luckier when, moments after its 'display', it flew off from its pine perch and vanished into thin air, it seemed, not to be seen again - at least for the next hour, after which time I decided I'd had my fill. Needless to say, I beamed all the way back home: this had been efficient birding of the highest quality. 'Wiki' describes it thus: a typical warbler which breeds in the deserts of central and western Asia and the extreme east of Europe, and migrating to similar habitats in southwestern Asia and the far northeast of Africa in winter. Until recently it was considered conspecific with the African desert warbler, but is now given specific status. The two are still each other's closest living relatives, and their relationships to other typical warblers are not clear. They may be fairly close to the whitethroat; particularly, female whitethroats look much like a richly coloured Asian desert warbler. But it seems that all these three taxa are fairly basal members of the genus. Me? Well, I'm just pleased to have got such cracking views of a 13th for Britain (only the 3rd since 1993) having taken the risk of travelling so far - potentially, for nothing!