Warbler (ID this little fella please).

thebishop

Not a very good picture but the best I could get.

trebor28

im gona take a stab at wood warbler.

jmkennedyie

Some warblers are very difficult to identify from a picture - perhaps an expert may be able to identify from your pic.

The ratio of lengths of particular feathers can be the differentiating factor.

It is much easier to identify them from their song. Was he(?) singing?

Wood Warblers are rare in Ireland. Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler are much more common and widespread. The yellow underparts are very variable, but all three species songs are totally different and very distinctive. Check out rspb website for sound recordings - it might remind you and you can confirm trebor28s stab, or identify it for us yourself!

thebishop

Im afraid id have no chance of iding it from its song as there were several birds singing at the time including a blackap in full song. I will go back tomorrow and listen maybe he would be still around.:)

Rainbowsend

Looks like a Chiff Chaff to me you can just about see the eye stripe on it.

paulusdu

I'd go with Wood Warbler too, with the eye strip and the yellow patch.
could even be a willow warbler, but if i were a betting man, and unfortunately i do tend to visit Mr Powers on rare occasions, i would put a few quid on a wood warbler

V_Moth

A tricky one to identify for sure. I think it is a Willow Warbler as:
-the tail is too long - Wood Warblers have quite short tails
-the underparts are washed yellowish - Wood Warblers are strikingly white underneath
- the legs look pale-ish pink, which would in the majority of cases rule out Chiffchaff

As JMKennedy mentioned, Wood Warblers are very rare in Ireland with only a handful of sightings from headlands along the south coast every year. One or two pairs breed in County Wicklow. Contrast that with the >1 million pairs of Willow Warblers breeding here.

Wood Warblers have a very distinctive song, a repeated, increasing series of "tsips" ending in a crescendo. The alternate song is a high pitched "tsvi-tsvi-tsvi-tsvi".

littlebug

I have this one pegged as a willow warbler? Too yellow for chiffchaff I thought and not yellow enough for wood warbler (plus highly unlikely in Mayo).Very similar to theBishops bird I think....

trebor28

littlebug, dunno if you have a smart phone but i downloaded a free app that has some birds on it.
it has there songs on it which you can play to help you when trying to identify them, especially the warblers.

it doesnt have the biggest selection but its handy all the same.

whyulittle

Had something very similar yesterday. On the edge of woodland, on the edge of Lough Ree.

thebishop

Great shot there whyulittle. I think now they are Willow warblers.Having taken advise from some of the comments above and listened to the songs on RSPB website. Ive been back where I took the pic a few times since and its still singing away to its hearts content.The song starts off a bit like a Chaffinch.Thanks for all the help.