More on that winter Whitethroat

Of all the species that I have dreamt of finding in Cuddesdon that would make the Birdguides review of the week, Whitethroat was well down the bottom. If not actually off the bottom. But here we are:

"There was a peculiar report of a Common Whitethroat from near Cuddesdon (Oxon) on 21st, and the Lesser Whitethroat continued on at Berry Hill Fields (Staffs)." http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=3095

A peculiar report? A peculiar record maybe, but not a peculiar report. The OOS database master Jon Uren has got back to me about previous winter records of Whitethroat in Oxfordshire - there are none. Well, at least since 1995 when the database began. Please God may this NOT be the most noteworthy bird I find in Cuddesdon... but it's a start.

But the Cuddesdon Whitethroat was not the only Whitethroat in Western Europe this winter. The bird below was photographed in Utrecht on 19th December 2011, from Dutch Birding No 1 2012, Vol 34, p72: