Dutch Birding volume 37 (2015) no 5

African Desert Warbler near Alphen aan den Rijn in November-December 2014

From 12 November until 9 December 2014, an African Desert Warbler Sylvia deserti was present near Alphen aan den Rijn, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands. The bird was identified as African Desert and not as (the more-to-be-expected) Asian Desert Warbler S nana based on its whitish underparts, whitish cheek, pale sandy coloured upperparts (lacking strong contrast with the uppertail), plain tertials and central tail-feathers. The recorded song and calls fitted deserti but were similar to nana and insufficient to identify the bird on sound alone. Ageing of deserti is not straightforward; although it was presumably a first-winter, it was not aged with certainty.

Although largely sedentary, with some dispersal and apparently some birds leaving the breeding areas during July-December, the species has been recorded outside its regular range: in north-eastern Libya, Malta (six records), Italy (five), Canary Islands (seven), Cape Verde Islands (two, including one on Razo, more than 1000 km from the nearest breeding grounds), Porto Santo, Madeira (650 km from the Moroccan coast) and on mainland Spain (two, including a record in October 2014). The most northerly records so far pertained to birds collected in Italy, near Cremona, Lombardia (c 1200 km from the nearest breeding grounds in North Africa) and near Rome. The bird at Alphen aan den Rijn was accepted by the Dutch rarities committee (CDNA) as the first African Desert Warbler for the Netherlands and is therefore the first for northern Europe as well.

Hans Zaal, Judith Leijsterstraat 29, 2406 DN Alphen aan den Rijn, Nederland
(idaspijker1hotmail.com)
Gert Ottens, Ganzebloem 14, 3984 CG Odijk, Nederland
(glanskraaihotmail.com)