Late Sedge Warbler

With so many migrant warblers back on territory now, some even with small chicks, its always quite surprising to hear of late-comers. One such recovery involved Sedge Warbler L517544, photographed on Tias Golf Course, Lanzarote (Canary Islands) on 14th-16th May. Incredibly, the photographs (some of which are below) were good enough to read the ring number.

This bird arrived on the golf course following a few days of mist and northerly winds, and turned up with several other Sedge and Reed Warblers. It had originally been ringed on 6th August 2011 in Poole Harbour (Dorset). It's unclear whether this is a late migrant or a bird that for some reason won't breed this year, but is very unusual all the same. This is just the third BTO-ringed Sedge Warbler to be reported from the islands, with previous birds being a bird from Barnsley (South Yorkshire) found dead on Roque del Este (an uninhabited island 12km northeast of Lanzarote) in September 1986 and one from Sandwich Bay (Kent) killed by a bird of prey on Gran Canaria in August 2009.

Many thanks to David Pérez Rodríguez and Toño Salazar for reporting this and for the photographs of the bird here.