The blocker

It was relatively quiet round Portland Bill on Sunday 5 September 2004, though still a reasonable morning’s birding. At the Obs, a bunch of us were sat on ‘waster’s wall’ when news came through of a Red-eyed Vireo in Ireland – a very early one, but an indication that the system coming in off the Atlantic was indeed a producer. No-one was prepared, though, for what happened next. After a search around various spots on the island with little to show for it, I was back at the Obs mid-afternoon, seawatching off the patio. Pager reception there was pretty iffy, and mobile reception too pre-wifi, but Martin Cade still had a pager then, and habitually left it in a good reception spot on the kitchen windowsill. At 3 pm I heard Mega-alert go off, so dashed to see what it was: ‘Western Isles Purple Martin at Butt of Lewis’. Not just a first for Britain, a first for the Western Palaearctic – ulp! A dash up the road to find mobile reception, a quick call to Paul C (not for the first or last time I had cause to thank him for making the necessary arrangements), and I was sorted.

Sixteen hours later, with time off arranged and a few hours’ sleep snatched, I was with a small band of birders at Blackpool airport waiting for news. The bird had been around till dusk, the weather was bad overnight (though due to improve markedly during the day – I’d checked) – it really ought to still be there. But the first news just before 7.30 am was negative, albeit in murky conditions. The pilot of the first plane asked who wanted to go – Paul and James stuck their hands up immediately, and I was quick to follow. We very soon had the first planeload, and I will protect the guilty here by not revealing the name of the birder who said something like ‘What’s the rush? If it’s there it’s not going anywhere in that.’ I simply mentioned ‘diurnal migrant’ and the improving forecast, then got on the plane.

By the time we landed at Stornoway at about 9.50 am we had had the elation of finding out the bird was still there, and then the worrying news that it had disappeared. Our taxi driver did a great job in getting us up there quickly, and we had just gone past Eoropaidh (or Eoropie) village on the way up to the Butt of Lewis lighthouse, when Steve Gantlett tore past us going the other way, slowing down just enough to shout that the martin was now over the village! Magnificent U-turn by our taxi driver, and we screeched to a halt in Eoropie minutes later. James and I were briefly waylaid by a journalist from the Highland Press and Journal who had caught wind of the story and wanted to interview us – we happily agreed, but only after we’d seen the bird. (We would have done so anyway, I think, so that the journalist was young, female, and quite attractive I am sure was entirely coincidental.) A very short run later, we had the martin: it was feeding low over the houses, and even perched briefly on some wires, giving excellent views – result! James and I then made good on our promise and chatted with the young lady from the P&J, before going back for more views. In the meantime a few more crews had arrived and scored, including those off the second Blackpool plane.

A little while later our crew joined a few others looking for a Buff-breasted Sandpiper up near the lighthouse – we dipped, in an admittedly brief search, but a nice bonus was a fine full-spooned adult Pomarine Skua that flew past. Back to Eoropie, then – the martin was still showing, but by now it was gone midday, the cloud had lifted high and blue sky was starting to appear from the south, just as the Met Office had predicted.

We decided to head back towards Stornoway, and so missed the awful moment, at about 12.45 pm, when the bird spiralled up and flew off south, lost as a speck. Less than 24 hours after being found, and just minutes before the birders who had come across on the ferry arrived on site, it was gone, never to be seen again. Fewer than 50 birders had connected, with at least that many left with nothing but agonisingly close what-might-have-beens. Plenty of friends were in that group, of course, so while it is my best blocker, I really wouldn’t mind if they got another chance at this one sometime soon.

(For an entertaining finder’s account and pics of the Purple Martin, see https://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V100/V100_N03/V100_N3_8_13.pdf.)