Can anyone ID this for me please?

[Ian-Highlander]

Had another wander down the river and through the woods at Ely on Monday and got some nice (I think) shots of various birds including loads of Wrens, a Jay and many others and various butterflies (will post some later for feedback). However I caught two really bad, quickly taken, out of focus shots of this as it was far too quick to get any decent shots and I'm honestly not sure what it is.

So, photo not for feedback at all, I know how crap this photo is, but hoping someone can ID the bird for me as I'm curious.

 

[Brian Colclough]

My best guess would be a Chiffchaff

 

[Ian-Highlander]

Interesting, thanks, had never heard of a ChiffChaff before, but just googled it and it does look fairly similar. Not conclusive by any means, but closer than anything I could come up with

 

[staffsmartin]

Legs look pale for a Chiffy, I would suggest Willow Warbler

 

[Joeturner11]

I would say Chiffchaff aswell...

 

[BRASH]

Willow Warbler.

 

[Jannyfox]

From the leg colour and the length of wing I'd say a willow warbler, though the two are hard to tell apart. Sometimes the way the light falls on a beak or legs can make them look a completely different colour to what they actually are. The willow warbler's wings end at around the far end of the thicker base of the tail - the chiffchaff's are a bit shorter. The easiest way (unless you have both species living side by side) is to listen for its song. Chiff chaffs are quite vocal and you'll realise immediately how they came by their name!

J

 

[dinners]

Willow Chaff

 

[Ian-Highlander]

Thanks guys, very similar birds, but that's pretty much satisfied my curiosity

Just incase it makes any difference at all, the other (even worse), heavily cropped and massively adjusted for crap exposure shot is here as it shows the shape from underneath and "may" make a difference.

 

[killip]

Yep. Willow Warbler for me too.

 

[eccles]

I have seen and heard many more willow warblers around the West Country reserves this year compared to previous years, outnumbering chiffchaffs by a large percentage. Leg colouration isn't always definitive as many of the birds I have seen have had dark legs similar to chiffchaff, but the song is completely different. Willow warblers' song is a multi-noted chatty inquiring song. The name "Chiffchaff" isn't in my opinion very descriptive of its song, being more of a high pitched two-toned "chirrip-chirrip".