Whitethroat
Here are a couple of photographs of a Common Whitethroat, Curruca communis, which I took last summer.
It’s a chunky warbler with a distinctive white throat. They’re called the Common Whitethroat, although you may never have seen one, and there are something like 1.1 million breeding territories in the UK. And now, at this time of year? There are none here; they’re all south of the Sahara living their lives to the full, gorging themselves on insects and packing on the fractions of an ounce in preparation for the great migration back here.
When people talk about British Birds, or birds being British, I find it an embarrassing bit of nonsense. Many spend only part of their lives here and pass through many countries in their short lives. We are simply custodians of their territory. If one of us fails to look after our bit of their land properly, we all suffer.
I’m looking forward to seeing them again.
More Greater Whitethroats
Greater Whitethroat One of the most distinctive features of the Greater Whitethroat, or Common Whitethroat, or just Whitethroat, is, well, yes, its… read more
South of the Sahara to here I'm in Oxfordshire, and a photograph of a Greater Whitethroat in deep pink cherry blossom is my aim. Especially if… read more
The Nettle-Creeper Last year, when I was in Oxfordshire, chicken-sitting for my friends, a Greater Whitethroat was in the garden scratching its… read more
Singing again Our resident Common Whitethroat is still singing for as much of the day as he can manage. The garden at… read more
Common Whitethroat scratching incessantly We're in Oxfordshire house-sitting for my friends. The weather is stunning and there's a dizzying number of places here we… read more
Whitethroat There's a bird I think is a Common Whitethroat, Curruca communis, in the bushes here in Capri. The light here… read more