What's not to like about a Bluethroat? - 18th April 2026

On April the 8th a male Bluethroat was found along a narrow path called the Poole Harbour Trail at Swineham in Wareham Town Country Park in Dorset. The path, which really is very narrow is sandwiched between a former gravel pit now a lake and the River Frome. 

The Bluethroat appeared not to have read the script in that it was ridiculously confiding and consequently many were the subsequent sensational photos of it that flooded onto social media after its discovery.

Bluethroats come in two forms, red spotted and white spotted which are classed as sub species.The bird at Swineham, in full breeding plumage, was obviously a male of the red spotted form but there is some interesting background to this.

A male Bluethroat was discovered in exactly the same spot on March 17th but was moulting from its dull first winter plumage into breeding plumage and photos taken at the time showed it definitely had a red spot appearing on its breast. Could the two birds be one and the same? The bird currently present in April having completed its transition from first winter plumage to breeding plumage and now showing really well and in the same spot as the  bird seen in March seems a remarkable coincidence. The chance of two vagrant bluethroats, both of the rarer red spotted form and being found in exactly the same location less than a month apart seems unlikely. 

It had also been assumed until the photos appeared that the bird in March was of the white spotted form as they migrate earlier than the red spotted form. Their migrations are very different.The red spotted breeds in the sub  arctic and winters in India and southeast Asia whereas the white spotted winters in southern Europe and Africa and breeds in milder areas of Europe. Logically one would think the white spotted form would be the more likely to occur in Britain but as often is the case with birds, the bluethroat at Swineham confounded expectations

Interestingly a male White Spotted Bluethroat returned for five years running (2021-2025) to Slimbridge WWT to set up a territory and sing but never found a mate.

I resolved to go and see the bluethroat, however a virus prevented any immediate departure but by Saturday I was feeling much better. I waited at home for news of the bluethroat still being present on Saturday morning and confirmatiom duly appeared on Birdguides at just after 7am.and so it was that I resolved to undertake the two and a half hour car journey to Swineham which lies just to the east of Wareham, near Poole Harbour in the fair county of Dorset.  

I arrived at Wareham at just after 10am and following the satnav found myself parking the car with some difficulty in Bestwall Road. a narrow residential road with cars nose to tail along one side and precious little space in which to manouevre.There was no shortage of birders to ask where to go, which  was to walk to the end of the road and then continue on what appeared to be a private road which eventually led to a gate giving access to an unsurfaced track that wound its way towards the marshes.and yet another gate through which I was required to take the left most path of four, going by the name of The Poole Harbour Trail. 

On the mile walk out to the bluethroat I met a number of returning birders who told me it was showing really well but the big problem was the extreme narrowness of the path and the number of birders crammed on it trying to get a sight of the bluethroat. My anxiety levels rose accordingly but there was little I could do about this but continue onwards and hope that I could find space in the crowd through which to view the bird. Frankly it was inevitable that a rare and showy bird on a sunny Saturday was bound to attract a crowd and I had known this from the outset so had no reason to complain.

Nearing the site I met two returning Welsh birders who told me the bluethroat had been showing beautifully not more than twenty feet in front of them. Excitement now joined anxiety in a mix of emotions as I increased my pace and hurried onwards.

There was no mistaking the spot, as rounding a bend  I came to a mass of bodies standing almost in single file on the path looking further along it. 

The restricted viewing conditions are all too evident

There was currently no sign of the bird so I gently managed to insinuate myself into the scrum and more by luck than judgement and the kindness of fellow birders found a position where I was able to see clearly down the path.

Both sides of the path were guarded by wind stunted, lichen encrusted hawthorns and thick stands of dead reeds. Overhead the sun shone from a sky that was like a blue sea with islands of fluffy white clouds, the sun creating dappled shadows along the path's length.

The narrow winding  path as seen from my crouched position on the narrow
bank to the left and that acted as a stage for the Bluethroat to perform on
from one end to the other

A wait of around twenty minutes ensued and then to a hushed excitement and, it has to be said personal relief, the bluethroat hopped down onto the grass beside the path but at the far end. As is the custom these days dried mealworms had been liberally scattered all along the path and in the grass and it was feeding on these.

Someone beside me stage whispered 

We should be at the other end of the path

However the bird appeared to be slowly and purposefully making its way towards us along the path so we waited  to see what would happen.

Gradually it moved closer and ever closer as a frisson of pleasure and delight gripped me as I focused on the superb, radiant blue and orange red colouring emblazoned across its front. A shock of bright colours on  otherwise pale buff underparts. The blue feathers were luminescent in the sun, appearing almost metallic and even in the shaded areas of the path retained a distinct glow.

It continued to hop towards us on long legs with occasional diversions into the grass at the edge of the path. 

With my camera in overdrive I took image after image until it stopped no more than five metres from us. A short hesitation, a slow raising of its tail and then it flew up into the adjacent hawthorn to perch there in the open 

Its actions and overall behaviour were highly reminiscent of a Robin and indeed a Robin was present for comparison.So often Robins chase off rarities such as this, creating a deal of angst amongst birder folk such as myself so I was gratified to note that the bluethroat was having none of it and would chase the Robin off aggressively and on a couple of occasions threaten it by extending its head and neck almost vertically, the better to show off its blue and red colours, just like male Robins do to each other in territorial display.

Time went un noticed in a euphoria of excitement and anticipation as the bluethroat dropped onto the path about every fifteen minutes to feed. 

Exclamations such as There it is! or Its back! Signified its return to the path from random voices behind me. We gorged ourselves on sensational view after sensational view, accompanied by gasps of admiration from newcomers and sighs of fulfillment from everyone, once it flew out of sight,.

At one point it was no more than a few feet from us, we being crouched and contorted on the bank by the path so others behind us could see and then it flew up into the centre of the hawthorn and commenced singing, a quiet warbling subsong that persisted for some minutes, its body silhouetted deep in the bush amongst the sunlit branches and twigs before it once more re emerged and hopped along the path, still singing.

In between its appearances the explosive exclamations of Cetti's Warbers came from all around us in the reeds while overhead  from the sky came the tittering call of a migrant Whimbrel and the yodel of a Mediterranean Gull and I am sure I heard the melodic triple tew tew tew call of a Greenshank.

Time continued to slip by as people came and went. Despite the cramped conditions there was no rancour or complaints from anyone. Everyone behaved sensibly and courteously so the day remained pleasant and amenable

There always comes a time in situations such as this when you know in your inner being that it is time to depart. Approaching noon I relinquished my place, rising stiffly and set off on the long walk back to my car, not a hardship after this morning's experience and with an added bonus of being serenaded on my way by Sedge Warblers from the surrounding reedbeds.