Tirfounder Fields, Aberdare. chiffchaff present again at same time, foraging along canal. Took photos & video. Seems to tick all the boxes for chiffchaff, I just thought it unusual that it should be so far north in winter, thought it might be a subspecies for a few hours.
Edit: having read the comments and the articles on subspecies, and comparing photos I am happy to relax and put this down as common chiffchaff, due to its yellow streaks and olive buffing. Still, it is exciting for me to have a usually summer migrant this far north in winter. Thanks all for help.
HD photo: http://www.spookspring.com/Tirfounder/chiff19.1.15.7.JPG
Also 1x willow tit. 2x kingfisher. 2x dipper. 7 lesser redpoll.
Glamorgan Bird Club 
Looks like a bog standard Chiffchaff to me not grey enough for Siberian. nice pic though. I seem to see more Blackcaps than Chiffchaffs in the winters now.
Hi both,
Chiffchaffs can be challenging birds when it comes to identifying which race they belong to, especially when working from a single photo which was taken in harsh light. Are there any other photos of this bird? Did you hear it call?
Take a peak at the various articles on the ‘net, particularly Martin Garner’s on Birding Frontiers. Like me, Martin sees many “interesting” Chiffies in Shetland each autumn and some are just not separable. Birds confidently identified as abietinus in the field/hand have proved to be tritis following DNA analysis.
You cannot dismiss Sibe Chiffies simply because they do not appear grey and white; many are browny-buff and various tones in between and can show considerable yellowish fringes to flight and tail feathers.
This bird is probably a colybita (bog standard Chiffy) on balance of probability but it does appear to show a prominent wing-bar…..
great at last an expert! Well I have 10 others photos, but i didnt want to clog the forum. Would you like me to send you links via email, if you want?
“Peek” not peak – doh!
Please do; judd.hunt@sky.com