Red-winged Blackbird

On Saturday 29 April 2017 I was having a great day's birding on Portland – Little Terns at Ferrybridge, a decent seawatch, lots of common migrants around, and the icing on the cake a fine male Eastern Subalpine Warbler at Cheyne Weares. Mid-afternoon I was taking a break back at the Obs, when suddenly the boom came down – having been out of reception for a while I asked James Phillips if there was any news from elsewhere. At first he said no, then about a minute later said ‘Actually, you need to be on North Ron.’ News of the Red-winged Blackbird had just broken – a 1st for the Western Pal, never mind Britain!

By the time I got hold of Paul C it was touch and go whether I could get to his before he left to meet up with Adrian Kettle and Paul Holmes for a long drive to Caithness and the ferry. Even if I could make it, it would mean travelling for the next couple of days in what I was wearing – no time to go home for a shower and change, or packing an overnight bag. At that point they had no option sorted beyond Kirkwall, either. I hesitated and was lost. I pottered home that evening semi-resigned to not getting to North Ron the next day. To make it worse the Sunday was my birthday, and I would not enjoy it one bit.

Faced with that awful prospect, I roused myself and looked for options. A few phone calls later I had the best possible – a place on a plane to North Ron from Kirkwall with Adrian, the two Pauls, and Chris Heard the following afternoon. But I had to get to Orkney first, of course. A long solo night drive later I was at Edinburgh airport and checked in for a late morning scheduled flight to Kirkwall, knowing by now that the bird was still present. With a little bit of time to kill I hung around outside and heard a Dipper calling as it flew along the small stream by the terminal’s bus stops.

An uneventful flight later I met up with the rest of the crew at Kirkwall airport, and we kicked our heels again for a few hours. At 3 pm we were at last in the air heading for North Ron, and after a short flight we were met by some of the Obs staff, including the late and already much-missed Kevin Woodbridge, and also assistant warden George Gay, who I’ve known since he was a nipper in Burnham-on-Sea going around with his dad Paul, also a birder. A lift in the Obs Land Rover later we were in position at the croft called Garso up at the north end of the island.

Garso croft (Photo: © Paul Chapman)

The Obs staff had got it all very well planned and organised even at that early stage in the bird’s stay, showing us exactly where to stand, lined up along the side of a barn, and explaining clearly how it would work. The bird was usually invisible in its favoured iris bed, which was out of bounds to us, but when gently pushed by one of the assistant wardens it would fly over the road to the by now already famous gas canisters.


In the end, after all the hassle of getting there, seeing the bird itself was a bit of a doddle – it behaved pretty much exactly as the Obs staff said it would. Even better in fact, as it flew out of the iris bed, came over us, and landed on a telegraph pole right by the barn. Brilliant close views before it flew over to the croft outbuildings and then perched on the gas canisters for a few minutes. George told me it was the best set of views it had given so far – bonus!

Red-winged Blackbird (Photos: © Paul Chapman)

Snow Bunting (Photo: © Paul Chapman)

We had to wait a little while for another showing, as the Obs did not want to push the bird too regularly so would only do so when there were enough birders on site who hadn't seen it. The pressure was well and truly off us though, and we happily agreed with their sensible approach. Another couple of crews arrived and shortly afterwards we had a repeat performance, except this time it went straight to the canisters.

After the Blackbird flew back into cover that time, we left and birded around the north end of the island. A decent selection of birds included a Whooper Swan, a few Bonxies, several Wheatears up by the lighthouse, and a stonking male Snow Bunting at Bewan.

As the light started to fade, we headed back to the Obs, where we were staying the night. (Adrian had originally booked us accommodation up by the lighthouse, as we thought the Obs would be full up  – the rest of us left him to try to sort that out with the B&B owner.) Several other birders we knew were staying over too, and it was a great evening: good food, beer, banter and birding tales – a very enjoyable birthday indeed.

We spent the next morning walking round the island searching for migrants (Arctic Tern, Lesser Whitethroat, and a few late Fieldfares were the best I saw), and getting more views of the Blackbird, then flew off North Ron mid pm.

White-billed Diver (Photo: © Paul Chapman)

On the way from Kirkwall to the ferry terminal at St Margaret’s Hope there was a raft of 100+ fabulous Long-tailed Ducks on Echna Loch on Burray and we had absolutely stunning views of the summer-plumaged White-billed Diver off the South Ron end of the causeway (the same bird I had seen on the Cretzschmar’s twitch nine years previously). A nice selection, too, of seabirds off the ferry to Gills Bay, including several Tysties and a Bonxie.


The long drive back down through Scotland, now five up in Paul C's car, was uncomfortable, but included a roadside Osprey near Dornoch. The others dropped me off back at Edinburgh airport and continued south. I couldn't face driving straight back on my own, so I grabbed some kip in a layby in the Borders and dawned the Black Grouse lek at Langdon Beck in the Durham fells. A brilliant experience as always – c.30 birds seen in the area, and a few Red Grouse too, all to the achingly evocative accompaniment of the calls of various upland waders, especially the Curlews. The only other birding stop on the long drive home was at Upton Warren – partly just to break up the journey, but six Common Terns and an Arctic Tern there were a nice bonus too.

I finally got back home at 2.30 pm on the Tuesday afternoon, shattered but very happy indeed. It cost me an arm and a leg (my most expensive twitch ever, in fact), but it was so worth it. A Western Pal first on my birthday plus all the other great birds seen along the way made for a truly excellent trip.