Whiteholme

Meadow Pipit carrying food

And here are photos that have had me puzzled, not least because they are not very good. They show a compact brown bird with a large black eye in a plain face. An eye ring is visible in the first photo. The back is streaked dark brown: tertials have broad pale fringes and almost reach the wing tip. The tail is dark brown centrally with yellow-brown sides, (and no white), and rounded corners. Underparts are plain, with some faint streaking of the breast sides. The bill is pinkish brown, and the legs and feet are light pink.

My id is Grasshopper Warbler. I have only had one previous good look at a 'Gropper', and the feature that stood out for me then was the pinkness of the legs: I think this clinches the id here. It could be a juvenile because books say these are warmer brown than adults, and because of the way it stood out in the open.

(Earlier, I was walking NE along the track beside the reservoir when I flushed a bird at the side of the track just a few feet away: it was small and brown and I got nothing on it, and after about 25 yards it dropped into the long grass. Later, when I was returning, the same thing happened again. I had no idea what this bird was, but with hindsight it is interesting that Hume et al in 'Europe's Birds' say that Grasshopper Warbler "may flush at close range".)

PS (12 August): This bird is actually a young MEADOW PIPIT! See Mick Cunningham's erudite analysis in 'COMMENTS'.