Shetland 2024

 
Paul Chapman and I had flights to Shetland left over after an abortive attempt to twitch the Western Olivaceous Warbler last year – we shifted and salvaged them twice for the princely sum of a fiver, passing on a spring trip in favour of a few days in early October. Paul booked a very nice Airbnb just south of Brae and we flew on early on Thursday 3 October for a 4-night stay. All the great pics here by Paul, used with his permission.

3 October

First stop was Grutness, where Tysties and a nearly full summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver were the pick of the bunch off the pier there. Our first migrant was a blythi Lesser Whitethroat in the Grutness garden.

We gradually worked our way up South Mainland without doing much more than adding common birds to the trip list, then headed to Burn of Sound on the outskirts of Lerwick for what turned out to be a very showy Little Bunting – not a year tick as I’d seen a wintering one in South Devon, but my best views of the species in years. We also heard the first of a shedload of Yellow-browed Warblers on this trip – they were everywhere!

Little Bunting, Burn of Sound

After a bit of shopping for supplies in Lerwick it was on to Aith, where we got very nice views of Golden Oriole and also (eventually) Rose-coloured Starling – both Shetland ticks and the latter a year tick too. It had not escaped my notice that we were also now within easy reach of another Shetland tick – the pair of Magpies that this year bred at Sandness. So we headed that way.

Golden Oriole, Aith

As we passed Turriefield, we noticed Dan Pointon standing by the roadside, so stopped to say hello, which turned out to be a very good move indeed. As we chatted, Paul Harvey waved him down into the field below, and quickly it was clear he’d found something good. When Roger Riddington and Rory Tallack started legging it round from the other side, we headed down to join them. By the time we got there it was confirmed – Shetland’s (and Scotland’s) 1st Eastern Crowned Warbler! We got excellent if fairly brief views, then watched the (very big by Shetland standards) twitch unfold. Later, a Magpie showed well by Sandness school, so that Shetland tick was also duly acquired, though it seemed very small beer indeed compared to the mega rare Phyllosc just down the road.

Eastern Crowned Warbler, Turriefield

We dropped our things at our digs opposite the Valleyfield guesthouse near Brae, then spent last knockings dipping the Red-backed Shrike at Sullom. Great first day, though!

4 October

An early morning solo walk (Paul slept in a bit, understandably knackered after the long drive up and a full day in the field on no sleep) into the very nice little plantation behind our digs produced the inevitable Yellow-browed Warbler but not much else. It was overcast and breezy, which made birding trickier than in yesterday’s lovely conditions, and we struggled a bit on visits to Clickimin and Quendale Mill. We heard the Red-breasted Flycatcher at Geosetter but it wouldn’t show. 

Barred Warbler, Clickimin

Back at Loch of Clickimin we finally saw the Barred Warbler very well, and we finished the day at Hoswick dipping a Snow Bunting and the long-staying Wood Warbler. But we found a Siberian Chiffchaff, which was something at least, after a bit of cat and mouse trying to get a decent view.

5 October

An early start today, heading north to Yell to visit Adrian Kettle, longtime friend of Paul’s from their Essex days (and I’d known him years too – in fact today was the 20th anniversary of Adrian, I, and others twitching Yellow Warbler together on Barra). We quickly headed up to Unst, as a Paddyfield Warbler had been found at Valyie, and the Lanceolated Warbler found there yesterday afternoon was also still present.

Paddyfield Warbler, Valyie

It was a very good day in great company. The Paddyfield showed well in the oat crop (as did a Common Rosefinch, another year tick), but became more elusive, though it showed very well again by the burn mid-afternoon. By then I had seen at least 4 Yellow-broweds and had great views of the Lancy, in the burn, the field nearby, and astonishing naked-eye views down to a few feet in the small pine plantation. We eventually moved on, seeing a Sand Martin and 3 Otters at Haroldswick and a Glaucous Gull at Uyeasound, then headed back to Yell for a delicious spag bol courtesy of Adrian’s wife Tracy, before catching an evening ferry back to Mainland. Great to spend time with Adrian again – it had been too long. Happy day!   

Lanceolated Warbler, Valyie

6 October

The Yellow-browed was still in the Valleyfield plantation early doors, and a few Redwings flew over. After breakfast we went to Sullom plantation again and this time got great views of the Red-backed Shrike, which sadly had a damaged wing so probably would not be able to migrate far.

Next up was Wadbister Voe, where a drake Velvet Scoter (another year tick) showed fairly distantly but reasonably well in the Eider flock, and 2 Otters delighted once again. Both Paul and I noticed the bill on the ‘Velvet’ looked pink rather than yellow/orange, but we put it down to an effect of either light or distance, only to find out a few days after we got back that the bird had been re-identified as a White-winged Scoter – even better! At Strand Loch there was no sign of the Pintail seen earlier, but Jackdaw was another (fairly sad) Shetland tick.

Red-breasted Flycatcher, Maywick

At Hoswick the Snow Bunting showed ludicrously well at the Orca Inn, then we legged it to Maywick for good views of Red-breasted Flycatcher before the rain arrived. We ended up at Kergord looking for an Olive-backed Pipit, but as we arrived Dominic Mitchell was running out of the plantation having unwittingly got too close to a wasps’ nest – they were still chasing him. It was a bit comical to watch, but concerning too – one stung him in the mouth and he spent a while in A&E in Lerwick that evening as a precaution, but was fine, thankfully. Shortly afterwards the OBP flew past a small group of us calling – I’ve now seen three OBPs on Shetland, all in flight. One on the deck would be nice!

At about 7.20pm, back at Valleyfield, I popped out for a cigarette and almost immediately heard a wader flying over calling. It sounded very like an American Golden Plover, but I’m not claiming it.

7 October

Our last day, so after a walk round the plantation ‘patch’, confirming a major arrival of Redwings but finding little else, we packed up and left our temporary home – excellent it was too. Back to Kergord where we failed to relocate the OBP, then started working our way south. Much the same stuff at Wadbister, then a dash to Stromfirth for a reported OBP that the original observer had realised was in fact a Tree Pipit by the time we got there. No worries – a trip tick, it showed well, and we saw a couple of Ring Ouzels on the way there, so not wasted time.

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, South Nesting

We were just heading past Lerwick when mega alert went off again – Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler at Garth in South Nesting! Andrew Lawson and crew had found another goodie. Neither of us needed it, but it had been 23 years for me and 32 for Paul since we’d seen one in Britain. Peg it! Great flight views soon after we arrived, though it showed even better after we left. We had to think about heading south though. Another failed attempt at Kergord (as we were passing close by anyway), then down to Sandwick/Hoswick where we saw Black-tailed Godwit, Wood Warbler briefly (both Shetland ticks), Garden Warbler, and the Snow Bunting again (which was really wacky – I’ve never seen one in a tree before).

Snow Bunting in a sycamore, Hoswick

As we were leaving, an Arctic Warbler broke from near Lerwick. We could have made it to the site in about 20 minutes, but it was nearly 4.30pm and we had to be at Sumburgh airport for about 6.30, so we deffed out and continued south. No luck with Twite, sadly, but 6 Long-tailed Ducks and 3 species of diver in West Voe Bay right by the airport finished the trip off nicely.

In the 5 days I recorded 93 species, including 14 year ticks and 10 Shetland ticks. No ticks, but several high-calibre headline birds, a good back-up cast, and great company made for a brilliant trip.

Rollercoaster

Ten days in October 2017: a rollercoaster, but very productive.

After a quiet morning’s birding on 9th, I was back home working on the Somerset Bird Report when I flicked into Twitter and saw a tweet from North Ron Obs showing a male Siberian Blue Robin in the hand! Scream! I had only just started trying to make arrangements when it mega’d. More pics appeared – ye gods, what an eye-burner! Paul C and I headed up overnight to Edinburgh where we teamed up with Adrian Kettle and Chris Heard. We got negative news before we got on our flight, which might actually have been a blessing in disguise, as a technical fault delayed take-off by three long hours. At the last minute we decided to go anyway, but now had no way on to North Ron that day as none of the planned charters took off. Paul and I had flights on to North Ron for the next day, though, so we still had an option if it was refound.

It wasn’t. We dipped on a Red-eyed Vireo on mainland Orkney also found the previous day, but found Yellow-browed Warbler, Little Gull, and Wood Sandpiper among others. After a good night’s sleep, we also found an American Wigeon × Wigeon hybrid on the Peedie Sea but failed on some Parrot Crossbills in Kirkwall, then gave up and flew back off. Which gave us an afternoon to hoover up some goodies in Northumberland, starting with the juvenile Long-tailed Skua on Goswick golf course. Many thanks to the course officials who made arrangements for us to get out on the course despite a major competition being on at the time, but the bird came to us anyway and landed near the clubhouse, to the joy of at least three crews of robin dippers. Next up was Budle Bay, where we bumped into Tom Cadwallender, BTO rep for Northumberland and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Paul eventually picked out the Richardson’s Cackling Goose along with a Todd’s Canada Goose, in a ludicrously large number of Barnacle Geese (the sight and sound of them was magnificent, as always). A quick dash down to Druridge Pools and we swiftly added Barred Warbler and Red-necked Phalarope to finish off a much better day than expected. 

Late on 12th news came through of an Orphean Warbler sp. on St Agnes, and first-hand reports from Cliff Smith and Mark Dowie from the field on 13th mentioned ‘chevrons’ on the undertail coverts – enough to make me think Eastern was in the frame and book flights for Paul and myself for the next day. It was partly a defensive move as we both wanted to spend that afternoon twitching the Rock Thrush still present in Gwent, but neither wanted to be caught out logistically if the Orphean was confirmed as an Eastern. Option sorted, we duly met up at the Blorenge and had some good views of the Rock Thrush. Later, photos of the uppertail pattern on the Orphean led most to think Western, so it seemed like a busted move, but the tickets were already paid for and there were some good birds on Scilly, so we went anyway.

We managed to dip both Isabelline Wheatear and the apparent Wilson’s Snipe, but did see American Golden Plover for the year. And, most importantly, our trip to Aggie gave us as good views of the warbler as could be expected, looking through one hedge to another one at the back of the field. The Home Counties crew that had flown on with us from Newquay had more luck with the snipe, and Adrian Webb got some important pics of the warbler, though sadly it seems they did not get the full airing they should have as quickly as they might (despite one being posted on Twitter by Stu Butchart within an hour of it being taken). There was a Hawfinch influx going on at the time, but it was still an unexpected Scilly tick on Aggie too.

We got back to St Mary’s to find that worries about the incoming Storm Ophelia meant we had to cut our daytrip short and fly to Land’s End to be sure of getting off, as getting stuck on would have meant being on till Tuesday at the earliest! It felt a bit frustrating at the time, and the courtesy minibus ride from St Just to Newquay was a bit tedious, but just over a week later we were to have it confirmed that it was indeed Britain’s first Eastern Orphean Warbler and that our trip had been a very good move indeed.

Southeasterlies had me on Portland early on Sunday 15th, and it did not disappoint. It was The Firecrest Day – they were everywhere. The Obs broke their annual record for ringing Firecrests – 68 (!) in just one day – and there were still unringed ones zipping around the Obs front garden near dusk, so the total on the island must have been way higher than that! Lots of migrants about the Obs garden, culminating in a Radde’s Warbler trapped and seen in the hand. A very interesting chat, too, about the Orphean with Grahame Walbridge, who also thought it was an Eastern. Several views of Hawfinch whizzing about, another view of the Radde’s when it was retrapped, and an obliging Red-breasted Flycatcher up at Broadcroft made it a very enjoyable day. So much so that I only just registered news of a possible Arctic Warbler at St Alban’s Head that evening.

Storm Ophelia blew out the Monday completely, and I was still cracking on with work on Tuesday 17th when news came through late morning that the ‘possible Arctic Warbler’ was still present and was in fact a ‘probable Two-barred Greenish Warbler’. I’d not been able to go for any of the previous ones, for various reasons, so it was a big need for me, about to become a gaping hole on my list come the following January, when adoption of IOC taxonomy by BOURC would make it a full species. I left swiftly, and was near Dorchester when it mega’d. Happily it showed almost immediately upon arrival and I even got it in the scope briefly. Tick! Then the rain came in and I left earlier than planned, soaked but very happy.

Next day (18th) saw me back down on Portland for another enjoyable day hunting for migrants, though less productive in terms of scarcities apart from more Firecrests and a Hawfinch or two. Late afternoon I couldn’t resist travelling over for another look at the Two-barred, and got excellent close views in better weather. Another birder arrived just after 5.30pm, having jumped off Scilly earlier that day, only to miss the bird by a few minutes the last time it ever showed. It was a bit of a slog back to the car after another long day, but I was rewarded with the sound of a calling Stone Curlew somewhere in the fields west of the car park at dusk.

Back to Portland again in the morning (19th), and the weather was unexpectedly awful. The rain cleared, then caught me out again on an uneventful walk round Top Fields, and I got soaked (again). Back at the Obs, the rain eventually stopped, so I ventured out on to the patio for a fag, and a bird landed briefly in the ‘Brambling tree’: I shouted back into the lounge where several other birders were still sheltering ‘Red-breasted Flycatcher’! It flicked off into the hut fields, where I relocated it, and it showed well for everyone for most of the afternoon. It’s good to share.

A mega dip, some consolation birds, a blocker, a record-breaking day, a gripback, and a gratifying personal find, all in 10 days. October, eh?

Blue-winged Warbler

A really nasty weather system had gone through on 3 October 2000, so everyone knew there was going to be a good Yank around, but still we were not prepared for this! At 0925 on 4th I got a call from Paul Clack, in the middle of discussing business with my boss, telling me there is a Blue-winged Warbler on Cape Clear! Eeeeek! As this is the worst possible scenario for me in a busy week I try to dismiss it as a wind up, but of course it isn’t. At 0950 all hell breaks loose on the pagers, a plan is hatched to get there today(!), and I manage to talk my long-suffering boss into giving me two days off at no notice at all, quite how I still don’t know. By 1015 I am on the road towards Birmingham airport with Jimbo, where I know Paul Chapman has booked us on a 1415 flight to Dublin with an onward connection to Cork, and there should be a 1730 ferry to Cape from Baltimore if we got there in time. We made it to Birmingham in time, just. We knew one slip with the logistics would mean the plan would fail, so the tension was nerve-tingling, especially while waiting to board both flights. 

We landed at Cork, and were away from the airport by 1600, arriving at Baltimore quay by 1720. The five of us (Paul Chapman, James McGill, Richard Bonser, Nic Hallam, and myself) were joined by six in two cars who had flown from Stansted (including Steve Webb, Adrian Webb, James Hanlon, and Franko), and we are all on the boat by 1730.  The bird had disappeared because of a rain shower, but we heard just before we got on the boat that it was showing again (which was gutting news for the Irish birder who had just come off having dipped, and who couldn’t go back due to other commitments). At 1815, with barely an hour of light left, we were off the boat on Cape and running up the quay past the Obs towards Cotter’s garden.

It seemed to take ages for the bird to show, but in reality it was less than five minutes before I got a look down somebody’s scope at the bird perched motionless at the bottom of a small bush. The mental image I had from memories of the Peterson guide was in fact of Brewster’s Warbler, a hybrid with Golden-winged, so I was not prepared for how yellow it was!  It is an over-used word these days, but this bird really was STUNNING! We watched it until nearly 7pm, when it went to roost in bushes at the top of the garden. A Sparrowhawk went through the top of those bushes, the moon was bright and clear, and we were very glad we had got there in time to see it. 

Rich Bonser and a couple of others even managed to get back off again before dark to be at Kilbaha at dawn to try for a Rose-breasted Grosbeak found there. They dipped, but respect for the attempt. We didn’t need that, so our next move was down the garden and into Cotter’s pub (then in its brief incarnation as the Night Jar – geddit?), where we got down to the serious business of celebrating such a coup, and did so well into the night.

Next morning, Franko and I had a flyover Tree Pipit (a scarce migrant in Ireland) as we left our overnight accommodation. We arrived back at Cotter’s garden, where there was initially no sign of the warbler, and I caught Eric Dempsey giving me daggers (probably unintentionally, but also wondering how we managed to beat him to a first for Ireland). Then the Blue-winged Warbler showed very well and everyone was very happy. I was quite badly hung over and must have looked a right state myself, but then at the Obs I saw the cut of Dennis Weir, the finder, who had been plied with whiskey till the early hours – he looked like a boiled owl, as the Midlands saying goes, but he was still buzzing big time.

Just 11 Brits had set a new record, having successfully twitched Cape Clear from Britain on the first day of a bird. And what a bird! So what if it stayed a week and other British birders saw it over the next few days for a sixth of what we spent – that day was something special.

Siberian Thrush

There are a few contenders for bird of the day for 5 October, not least flying from Bristol to Knock in 2008 with Paul Chapman and Dan Pointon to be the first British crew to twitch the Little Blue Heron in Galway, or indeed 2013’s Thick-billed Warbler on Shetland. But the winner is the male Siberian Thrush on Gugh.

As the first full week of October 1999 started, my oppo at work was away for the week (for some reason his wife always wanted to spend a week in a cottage in Pembrokeshire – lovely indeed, but in October?) Time off was therefore at a premium, and I was glad that it was quiet and the forecast suggested it would stay that way. How badly wrong I was! News of the male Siberian Thrush’s presence on Scilly filtered out around 12.30pm on the Tuesday afternoon. The North Ron one in 1992 was too early in my twitching career for me to have gone for it, and I couldn’t get to Norfolk in time in 1994, so this remained a near-mythical bird for me.

My long-suffering boss of the time kindly said yes to that afternoon and the next morning off work, on the wildest of promises – the twitch was on! (Once again living in the southwest and being able to get to Scilly the same day was proving handy.) James McGill and I left Taunton in a hurry, heading to Newquay and a 4pm flight to St Mary’s. On the way we had arranged a lift with an Association boat, but when they saw there were only two of us the boatmen switched to using their own tiny motorised dinghy. Off over to Aggie in that – great fun! I alarmed James further by changing my trousers on the boat (I was wearing white trousers and charging through bramble and thorn in those didn’t seem a good idea – I’d chased after a Wryneck on Mendip after work only the week before and came out of the gorse with my legs looking like the Tour de France King of the Mountains jersey). Luckily there wasn’t much swell, and soon we arrived at the quay on Aggie, only to find that there was a full boatload of departing birders there. So we had to land on the other side of the quay, where there is the small extra wall. It’s a good thing we’re both tall, otherwise we would never have made it. As it was I made the mistake of trying to carry my scope and bag at the same time as grabbing the top of the wall – I nearly went in the drink, but Jimbo gave me a boost up. We got a rousing cheer as we ran up the quay – thanks, guys!

We were on Gugh by about 5.30pm, with not much more than an hour of usable light left, and only a few birders still looking, so we realised the enormity of our task if we were to see the bird that night. A shout went up, but our first view was thrush sp. – totally untickable. Then a huge stroke of luck, as a dark-blue shape flew directly towards us then went vertical like a jet fighter, showing off the Zoothera underwing and chequerboard undertail coverts. Wow! We teamed up with fellow Somerset birder Tom Raven, who was staying on Aggie, and a couple of flight views later he found it perched in a gorse bush and the 20 or so birders present all got fabulous views. What a bird!

We got the boat back to St Mary’s at about 7pm and settled into a night of celebrating under fairly cloudless skies. At the airport in the morning we saw several friends trooping off the chopper with worried looks on their faces, but they had the last laugh. Not only had the Sibe Thrush stayed, but as we collected our kit at the heliport, Mega alert went again – White’s Thrush on St Agnes! A good thing we didn’t need it! Thirty-six hours later we were back on Scilly again anyway, for the Short-toed Eagle this time, but that’s another story.

Philadelphia Vireo

October 2008 had already been pretty busy, especially with Irish trips, but on 13th I was on Portland. I’d spent the hour before the news broke on this bird chasing a smallish Locustella around Perryfields quarry, finally satisfying myself that it was just a small Grasshopper Warbler. (Of what race, though, I now wonder, uselessly?) Then I get a call from Tom McKinney at Birdnet: ‘You need to be in Ireland, mate’. Philly Vireo at Kilbaha! I hastily arranged a flight and faced up to another early morning at Stansted, flying to Shannon this time. Paul and Dan were both tied up and couldn’t go (an unavoidable business meeting in Brussels and an unfortunately timed bout of food poisoning, respectively), so I hoped I would be able to team up with others once there. I bumped into another birder (whose name I forget, sorry) at the airport, who asked whether I wanted to hire a car with him, but I hung fire until reaching the departure lounge, where I met Brett Richards and Richard Stephenson who already had a car sorted and two spare spaces – perfect!

With the bird still present, Brett’s driving across Clare was, erm, ‘committed’. Our chance companion, looking rather pale, sidled up to me as we were getting our gear out of the car at Kilbaha and asked, ‘You are driving on the way back, aren’t you?’ We had parked outside the Lighthouse Inn, so had overshot a bit, and ended up walking the long way round before reaching the right house. Then a splash through a very wet field to view a line of small willows. It was an anxious wait, as others from the same flight had not made the same mistake and had already seen the bird. Then there was a bit of a (splashy) run on, but it wasn’t too long really before we had excellent views of the vireo working its way through the tops of the willows. Only the second record for Ireland, and at that point there had only been one British record, so a huge bird to get.

A comedy moment on the way back out of the field as I tried to straddle an electric fence with one foot ankle-deep in water (my boots and socks were already sodden and had been for some time). I touched the fence with my inner thigh, got a massive belt off it, and ended up in an undignified heap, thankfully on the dry side. Still with a huge grin, though.

After a more sedate drive back, we boarded the return flight at Shannon. Dusk was falling but the sky was clearing: we feared for friends trying next day, and unfortunately the bird disappeared that night.

Oh Parula!

On the night of 24 September, I toyed with the idea of going for the unidentified Empid at Cilan Head on the Lleyn Peninsula in N Wales, but was too knackered to be there for dawn, so I slept on it, which turned out to be a good move. Monday 25th dawned bright and clear, and of the Empid there was no sign. I settled down to get on with some work, then had to cut a phone call from Duncan Walbridge short as mega-alert went off yet again: ‘Sorry Dunc, Parula’s just been seen again on Scilly. Got to go.’

It had been seen briefly on the Saturday just gone, then no news at all on the Sunday, when the weather on Scilly was foul, but now it was a lovely day there and up it popped again. I had a horrible history with the species, having passed up the opportunity to do my first twitch to Scilly in 1992 for a showy bird on the Garrison on St Mary’s, then missing a one-day bird on St Agnes in 1995 by leaving the islands a day early and being fogged off the day after. A dip at Brownstown Head in Waterford with James McGill was followed by not getting to a 2010 bird on Tiree in time because of work commitments. Lots of others who had been waiting less time for one saw the Tiree bird very well. Having been a seemingly regular vagrant in the late 1980s, records had fallen off a cliff and this was only the fourth record since that 1992 bird. A bogey bird indeed!

Back to 25 September. It was now nearly 11 am, so too late to make the 2.05pm flight from Land's End I had booked in a panic on Saturday, but the A30 roadworks have caused so many delays that Skybus were happy to transfer me free of charge to a later flight at 3.40 pm. Twitch on! Once again there was little or no accommodation available, but, with help from friends on WhatsApp, I managed to book a Tresco Boat Services boat on to St Martin’s at 4.45pm. The flight was 20 minutes late (Tense? Me? Oh yes!), but I arrived at the quay on St Mary’s at c.4.30pm and my boat (the Cyclone) was there waiting. Excellent! We whizzed across and landed at Higher Town quay by 4.50, I legged it across the cricket pitch, and got gen about where to look from a few casual birders by the pitch. Then I bumped into a couple and their young son who had just been watching it, but it had flown off from its favoured willows just a minute or two before I got there. Scream!

I set about searching, on my own by then, and just about half an hour later, I relocated it fairly high up in an elm about 50 yards away. Only a brief, flicky view and from underneath, but I had at last seen a Parula! I spent some more time hoping it would come back to the willows again (and trying to bring my phone back to life to put out an update), but it didn't and activity quietened down after the sun went off them. Eventually I left and caught my pre-arranged 7 pm boat back to Mary’s. Straight to the Co-op for food and fags, then on to the Scillonian Club, where I bumped into Higgo and started in on several pints of Cold River cider to celebrate. I also jammed in on a speech by the CEO of Harland & Wolff about their plans to provide new ferries on the route to/from the islands, which went down well with the locals (a fast ferry doing 3 or 4 trips a day in summer sounded good to me too, though it’s unclear whether it would be running in the main birding season).

I found a spot to sleep which was at least private and dry (I'm not saying where in case I need to use it again) and settled down to an uncomfortable night, cushioned by the alcohol and the warm feeling of having finally seen my bogey bird. I still felt a little cheated though, given the outstanding views others had had until just before I got there. Still, there was always the morning.

Dawn broke on the Tuesday overcast and occasionally wet, but the rain cleared through quickly to leave a bright, sunny day, and I jumped on the St Mary’s Association boat that currently runs to St Martin’s at 0845 every weekday. I knew Dan Pointon and Andy Holden were on the first flight on to Mary’s but it might be tight for them to make the boat. It was – I was standing over the boatman, cajoling him to hang on just a few more minutes, but he was in the middle of casting off when I saw their shuttle bus coming down the quay. They made it, just. After landing at Lower Town quay it was a bit of a hike across the island, but it wasn’t too long of a wait at the favoured willows before we were treated to sumptuous views of the Parula. These were the views I had wanted the night before, and they were stunning! What a bird! Thirty-plus years of hurt had gone away the night before, but this was something else. 

Photo: Pete Garrity

After a while the Parula flew off into the elms, so we headed to the bakery, where Dan rapidly demolished a pasty, then fruitlessly looked for a Red-eyed Vireo seen the day before near the campsite. We were all off on a 2.30 pm flight (Dan and Andy spent less than 6 hours on the islands - very efficient twitching indeed) and my journey back home was routine, apart from a cracked windscreen due to a large stone kicked up by another car on the A30.  It didn't stop me grinning, though.

One song kept popping into my head the night before in the Scillonian Club, so here is my version (with sincere apologies to the late Leonard Cohen and indeed everyone else):

‘Now I knew that there's a bogey bird

Photo: Pete Garrity

That lots had seen but I'd not heard

And it goes by the name of Parula

I'd missed it for years

Then another appears

And shining in the sun is a Parula

A Parula, a Parula

Oh Parula, oh Paru-u-ula’

After that, things started to calm down a bit, though a well-watched one-day Blackburnian Warbler on Shetland kept the run of true megas coming (and also the thanks offered to the birding gods for the long-staying Bryher bird last year). Then Irish (and some British) birders were scrambling when Ireland’s first Cape May Warbler (a real scorcher, much better-looking than the Unst bird of 10 years ago) was found on Achill Island. There were also some high-quality American birds available in the last few days of September and first few of October for birders seeking to fill in gaps on their lists: 2 Bobolinks on Scilly, Yellow Warbler on Tiree, and a very showy Veery on Shetland. The few who needed all of them must have been bouncing around like yo-yos.

Meanwhile, another British tick had popped up for me: a classy-looking juvenile Northern Harrier on the Lizard. I’d seen two in Ireland before, so it wasn't a desperate 'need', but as there were other decent birds in Cornwall too, I made an effort once I’d got some work done. I dipped on 5 October, despite spending five hours in two watches overlooking Goonhilly Downs: I did take some time out and head over to Polgigga, where I was exceedingly lucky to get the briefest of brief views of a Black-and-white Warbler trapped in Nanjizal the day before – it only showed twice for about a minute each time that day. A return visit on Saturday 7 October got me flight views of a Purple Heron at Marazion Marsh and at last views of the harrier, now down at Kynance Cove, including a stunning slow fly-past at no more than 60 yards’ range. I got home that evening happy that I was, at last and for now, Back to Square One.

Those first few days after ex-Hurricane Lee hit were the most intense birding period I have ever known, and I was lucky that most of the serious action for me was within relatively easy reach. We may not see its like again.

‘Never seen anything like it…’

Such was the reaction of one twitcher of nearly 50 years’ standing I spoke to during a seriously intense and unprecedented American vagrancy event in late September 2023.

British and Irish birders’ eyes lit up when they saw the track of ex-Hurricane Lee, hitting Nova Scotia on Saturday 16 September and then screaming across the Atlantic by Monday night on 18th. We’re used to such systems, of course, but not this early, so anticipation was high that it might bring across something rarer than the regular October Yank vagrants. We were not, however, anything like ready for what actually happened…

The 16th had already seen a spectacular and unprecedented twitch by my old mate Paul Chapman, travelling from Scilly to St Kilda in just under 24 hours to claw back Tennessee Warbler, but that’s his tale, to be told another day. Cliff Swallows had been seen in unprecedented numbers in Iceland, so a twitchable one in Kent on 19th was only surprising in its location. Not a tick for the big listers, but still a quality rarity. Then, the next morning, Ireland’s first Blackburnian Warbler was found on Skellig Michael, one of the most difficult islands to get to at all, never mind in a hurry. Ex-Hurricane Lee had already produced a real mega, and we thanked the stars for the Bryher bird last year.

A few Red-eyed Vireos in western Ireland and Scilly were only to be expected, but that evening though, even the biggest listers were quivering at news of an Empidonax sp. on Skokholm; it was confirmed several days later as an Alder Flycatcher (which most have seen), but there are a couple of likely Empids that haven’t turned up yet, so you have to have your wits about you. Then all of that was blown away as, just before dusk, Toby Phelps hit gold dust on the mainland at St Govan’s Head, Pembrokeshire – Magnolia Warbler! A near-mythical bird this side of the Atlantic, with only two previous British records, the only twitchable one being on Scilly way back in 1981! To say this was huge is a massive, massive understatement.

Dawn on 21st saw a big crowd gathered in a surprisingly capacious car park (it needed to be!), including birders I had not seen on a national twitch for donkey’s years – everyone was out for this one. Cliff Smith picked the Magnolia up in a thermal imager nice and early, and over the next couple of hours we were treated to some sumptuous views of it flicking around in gorse, bracken, and hawthorns in the little valley east of the car park, the yellow underparts shining in the occasional sunny spells. What a magnificent bird!

Photo: Ashley Howe

After a while it flew a little way up the valley and landed close to me, giving me more gobsmacking views, before moving further up towards the car park. News of a Red-eyed Vireo at Sker, Glamorgan, had Welsh listers scurrying away, but by now it was clear that a serious vagrancy event was on the cards, as mega-alert was going off at regular intervals: a Bobolink on Skokholm (where the as-yet-unidentified Empid was also still present, unattainably as the swell was still too big for boats to go), a Tennessee Warbler on Barra, and two different Baltimore Orioles in Ireland.

My crew of Paul C, Paul Gregory, and Matt Slaymaker were already on our way back through South Wales when another huge blow struck – Bay-breasted Warbler on Ramsey Island! Eeeek! Even rarer than Magnolia; literally everyone bar the one birder who found the first one needed it; and we were very close to it! However, it very quickly became clear that there would be no boats to Ramsey that day due to sea conditions, though some headed to St Justinians and looked over Ramsey Sound in agony, as they could see the few birders on the island watching it! Paul C booked himself and me on to the first available boat on Saturday morning, and we headed back, as Paul G and Matt had other places they had to be. We were all seriously bummed out, and had to remind ourselves that we had just that morning seen a Magnolia Warbler!

The 22nd was, by comparison, fairly quiet, though a new Tennessee Warbler and Baltimore Oriole in Ireland reminded us that the fallout from Lee was far from over. Paul C and I travelled separately back to Pembrokeshire for the Saturday, as he had family commitments later that day; a good thing it turned out to be too, as another day of utter madness was just beginning. While we were waiting for our 10 am boat to Ramsey (incidentally getting great views of a Wryneck on the coast path at St Justinians), the next mega-alert went off – Toby Phelps had done it again! One better in fact, by finding Britain’s first Canada Warbler, only a few miles from the Magnolia Warbler (which was also still present for the Saturday crowd)!  For those of us who had seen the Irish bird at Kilbaha in 2006, which showed very well, no problem, but for those who hadn’t, or who don’t ‘do’ Ireland, an absolute must-see bird. 

First things first though for those already queuing – on to Ramsey, where we were corralled on arrival and given a list of do’s and don’ts, under the watchful eye of a couple of policemen (yes, really), then the short distance up to overlook the warden’s house and the willows in the back garden. The Bay-breasted Warbler was still present and giving great views, but then it flew up the slope and landed on some brambles about 30 feet from Paul and myself. Absolutely stunning!

Photo: Paul Chapman

Paul headed back to the quay, to get off asap to resume family duties. Then all hell broke loose. Bear in mind that the 80 birders on Ramsey (plus another 80 still queueing at St Justinians) included most of the biggest listers in Britain, but as mega-alert kept going off, plenty needed something somewhere. Bruce Taylor came up trumps again on Barra with Britain’s second Philadelphia Vireo (a tick for Paul, though I had seen an Irish one, again at Kilbaha, on a day when he was unavoidably tied up), but there was only a short time before the blow fell on me too – Parula on Scilly! My bogey bird. About half an hour later, news of an Ovenbird on Rum had other birders wondering how to get there, while another Empid, this time on the mainland in N Wales, had us all a bit worried about what it might turn out to be. Some dashed off the midday boat, legged it up, saw the Bay-breasted almost immediately, and legged it straight back down again to get in the (very orderly) queue to get off. Some were planning to hit the Canada Warbler, which was at least easily accessible, while others who’d already seen that on the way were planning to head for a hastily arranged boat to Bardsey for a Black-and-white Warbler found on there.  It really was that mad a day. There were younger but very keen listers who left Ramsey having seen a huge mega-tick, but with at least three possible ticks for them already on the board, spread widely up and down the country, and with no way of knowing which, if any, would stick.

Off by about 12.45pm, I paused long enough to book a flight to Scilly on Monday afternoon, but only in hope, as there was no further sign of the Parula that day. Mid-afternoon I arrived near Stack Rocks to look for the Canada Warbler, and it was a real mess of a twitch. Given the habitat the bird had chosen it was always going to be, and I saw nothing I would class as bad behaviour (apart from some of the parking, quickly sorted out), just lots of birders trying desperately to see a first for Britain in a willow clump, where views were inevitably brief and not very good unless you were lucky. In 90 minutes I saw the bird briefly twice – enough for the British tick, just. Thankfully I was less in need of great views than many others there. At 5pm, with the wind increasing and the weather deteriorating, I left and headed for home. Later I found out that Harry Murphy had managed to get on to both Skokholm and Ramsey and had had a four-tick day: a first for Britain, a second, and two thirds. Surely an unbeatable all-time record?

Sunday 24th was mercifully quieter, as we were all a bit knackered, though some of the keen youngsters were still travelling. Some of the keen older ’uns too, as Paul spent the next two days searching on Barra for the Philly Vireo, with no joy. Meanwhile, Bruce managed to find yet another Tennessee Warbler and added at least another three to the Red-eyed Vireo count on the island. (Now there’s a question for another day – who did better: Toby Phelps, with two absolute mega mainland finds (Magnolia and Canada), or Bruce Taylor, who found Philly Vireo, 2 Tennessee Warblers, and at least 5 Red-eyed Vireos over the same few days?) 

Meanwhile, there was still the (very elusive) N Wales Empid to worry about, and an elusive American warbler found near Briton Ferry in S Wales that turned out to be another Magnolia – the relief when it was finally worked out and was ‘only’ a bird we’d have given our eye teeth for just a few days earlier! I spent the day unsuccessfully looking for a Red-eyed Vireo trapped twice on Portland the previous day and again right at dawn, but it melted away, largely unseen in the field.

Utter madness, but it wasn’t remotely over yet…