Friday 15th May 2026: Eastern Subalpine Warbler at Beachy Head

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 We drove to Beachy Head this afternoon in search of a UK rarity first reported several days ago, but with today our earliest opportunity to try to find it.

On the local WhatsApp group were horror stories of the steep incline up from Cow Gap where the bird was sighted to the Beachy Head road, so we opted to take the longer but gentler walk in from Eastbourne. Along the way, amongst the melee of bird song, we picked out a Lesser Whitethroat, which despite sounding very close failed to reveal itself. 

After about 20 minutes we arrived at the target area, where a couple of other birders were already looking for the ‘Subalp’. Before too long one of them heard the bird sing, and we soon had several brief but clear views of the bird as it moved through the foliage at the top of a bush. A pleasing result, and one we may not have achieved without others watching. The area of scrub was quite wide, and a pair of Stonechats were distracting, moving very close to where the bird was being seen.

The skies were darkening, and with a forecast of thundery showers we thought we’d better start heading back. Too late I fear, as we had not travelled far before it started to rain heavily. By the time we reached the car I was completely drenched, with my socks and trainers decidedly wet when I reached home. All worth it though for this UK lifer!


Eastern Subalpine Warbler (Richard Allan)



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