Willow-Chiffs !!!!!!!!!!

Well, with Portland seeing a GIGANTIC fall of around 3000 of these little beauties yesterday it means that places like Arne are soon to be filled with the melodic desending calls of Willow Warblers and the constant chatter of the Chiffchaff. It's very easy to tell the difference between these two leaf Warblers if they are happily singing their hearts out, but what if all our new arrivals were suddenly struck down with a sudden case laryngitis?

There are a few tell tale signs like leg colour, but they're not always easy to see and both species can quite often have the same coloured legs. One of the key ways to ID any bird in the field is to look carefully at the bird and pick out certain features that make it unique. Take a look at the picture below of a Willow Warbler and a Chiffchaff I took at Durlston yesterday, and for me it highlights one of the best ways of telling these two birds apart out in the field and when they're not singing.

The bird on the left is the Chiffchaff and the bird on the right is a Willow Warbler. Now look at the length of their wings. Chiffchaffs traditionally have short stubby rounded wings, whilst Willow Warbler have longer, sleeker pointed wings. Once you get your eye in you'll be surprised how easy it can be to tell the two birds apart just from this ID feature alone. Willow Warbler are overall a lot more slender a longer in body length.

Give it a go......there will be pleanty of opportunities to test this theory out over the next seven months and see if you can get your eye in!