Around 15.00 this afternoon I received a text from a friend telling me a Bonelli's Warbler (no one had confirmed whether it was eastern or western) had been found on Billinge Hill, about 15mins from my house. The original report stated the bird was in St Helens, but I know the county boundary runs along the top of Billinge Hill, so I was hopeful the bird would actually be in GM.
On arriving at the site it was absolutely teeming down, so I sat in the car for 10mins or so. The copse it was reported to be in was only a five minute walk from the car, and there were several birders already there looking for the bird. I met up with a couple of birders I know from St Helens, and had a good chinwag in the absence of the Bonelli's. The copse was mainly pine with only a few deciduous trees, and the gen was that the bird had moved through the copse, and probably off along a hedgerow leading north or east.
I left after an hour or so when the rain started again. Sadly it had not been relocated last time I heard, but it was confirmed the bird was in GM and not St Helens, Merseyside. It would be fantastic if it were re-found but especially if its in GM.
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