The excitement of the previous days' Magnolia Warbler had quickly turned to trepidation. Those of us afflicted with compulsive twitching rarely bask in the glory of a success, it’s all about the next one (or the one that got away). The Ramsay Bay-breasted Warbler had remained on Friday 22nd. We now has 24 hours to go before a possible American warbler double-whammy, but by now there was a deluge of American birds across the west of the UK and Ireland. What on earth would be next. And where. Twitcher tensions and FOMO meltdown abounded. This was a truly remarkable deluge of rarities but I doubt many of us were enjoying it, or at least not those of us attempting to balance family and work too. With lots going on at home it was hardly ideal that I could be away on Saturday, but I was still going. Sometimes you just have to.
Our boat was a 10am, but we wanted to get there nice and early so we were parked-up in the scenic lifeboat station near St David's not long after dawn. Familiar faces were assembling. In the end there were 3 boats organised, 9.30, 10 and 12. We were on the first that had been announced, but not the first of the day. But we were booked and that’s all that mattered.
Ramsay is only just across a narrow sound and we knew the bird would be searched for at dawn. We chatted and scanned across longingly at the island. I was my usual pessimistic self. Surely two new American warblers in a week was far too much to hope for?
A Wryneck was found by the path and gave fabulous views early on. A welcome distraction and a bird I see too rarely.
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| Wryneck |
It wasn't long after 7 when the wardens could be seen on the island, clearly searching for the Bay-breast. After no more than a few minutes the distant searcher returned to the house. Surely that was a good sign - would anyone give up that quickly? There was no signal down by the quay, so I wandered uphill only to be met by an animated Steve Gantlett headed the other way. The news was indeed good - game on. It was now a case of waiting for our turn on the boat. Everyone pushed a little closer towards the slipway, as if that made a difference. There were only 3 boats today and lots of people had failed to get tickets. There had been stark warnings not to turn up without one. Us paranoid ticket holding twitchers feared less scrupulous individuals may try to sneak through, leaving us high and dry. The 9.30 boat departed on cue, and it was our turn to head down the steps. Security was surprisingly tight - we went through no less than four separate role calls, a security brief before boarding, another on embarkment and a third on arrival. That said, the main drive was safety and biosecurity, so I have no complaints about it.
As we waited, there was another incredible birding occurrence. News of the UKs first Canada Warbler came through. Not only that, it was just up the road close to the Magnolia warbler (which was still there) and had been found by the same birder. What the actual hell?!?! Having seen the one previous Irish record (in 2006), I was able to be calm as others lost their heads, but the whole place went in to headless chicken meltdown. My hopes of a rapid return home post-Ramsay had clearly just gone sideways, but it was fantastic to be part of what was evidently turning in to an all-time classic twitch.
Once on the boat, the crossing of Ramsay Sound was lovely, but constantly interrupted by more and more American bird news. Nothing like this has ever happened before (and it’s impossible to explain to a non birder). We were in unchartered birding waters.
But that could wait. On Ramsay some 15 minutes later, we were met at the quay by RSPB wardens and - somewhat bizarrely - two police officers. We were treated to another briefing before being allowed to head up the steps to the nearby willow and scrub favoured by the target bird. Just like it's Magnolian cousin on Thursday, it showed immediately and very well. BAY-BREASTED WARBLER - OML.
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Above two my shots.
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Two new American warblers in three days. And two of the rarest. Dreamland stuff for us listers. Of the 20 species of American wood warbler on the combined UK and Ireland lists, as at today18 species have been twitchable during my time. I've managed 17 of those (so far) and hold out hope for another Blue-winged Warbler to make up for not being around for the sole record (Ireland, 2000, when I lived in the US). The other two species, Chestnut-sided and Hooded, are yet to appear for the masses but we remain ever hopeful. And there are quite a few more other possibilities.
As we stood in the sunshine the American arrival news kept coming. Parula on Scilly. Philadelphia Vireo on Barra. Ovenbird on Rhum. Tennessee Warbler in Ireland. Bobolinks. Red eyed Vireos en masse, Baltimore Oriole. Black and white warbler in Gwynedd. Mind-bending stuff, and total panic for the younger generation. Part of me wanted to make it stop. But of course there was the pressing matter of a Canada Warbler to address, and my carload were understandably twitchy. I’d have normally been the same.
We got the boat back at 12.30, and were in the car half an hour later. Despite the short distance, it was a longer than anticipated drive back to St Govan's Head from here - about an hour and a quarter along winding roads with an excessive amount of Sunday drivers.
When we arrived it was complete chaos - a far cry from the calm of Ramsay Island. Cars were dumped on the narrow road verge, with people inside the roadside mass of willow scrub. The bird had been elusive and the atmosphere was tense. Even the weather had become more broody. We joined the throng, with the bird putting in a brief appearance to a handful of people just as we entered the fray. People surged. I went to the far end and waited, but seeing through the crowd in to the low dense cover was difficult. Some climbed trees. I attempted to balance on a log. This was nuts, and not in a fun way. After 45 minutes or so with no sightings I resigned myself to not seeing this bird and thanked my lucky stars for Kilbaha in 2006, as well as the many I've seen abroad.
As it happened I had edged away at the right moment as it was called right in front of me and where very few people stood. I got about three seconds of it, mostly facing away but clear enough. That wodl be CANADA WARBLER on my UK list. It was immediately gone and I was engulfed in a crowd. I moved, and ten minutes later had another 10 seconds of views, an improvement on the previous ones, before it flew up over the crowd and back towards it's original location. At this point a lot of people hadn’t seen it at all, or just flight views of a ‘bird sp.’. Panic was now widespread.
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| Canada Warbler. Both photos by Graham Jepson (@GrahamJepson1) |
I moved again and found myself in the right place about ten minutes later; this time I managed about thirty seconds of views and saw it well. That would do me, but I had no idea if my car team had seen it. I found Malc and Simon and was relieved to hear they had. We eventually found the dour Welshman and gladly he’d seen it too. It was time to go. I later found out just how many people had failed, some of which had shared cars with people who’d scored. Some stayed over, but next day there was no sign at all. We had been fortunate.
The journey home was long. We should have expected it to be so given that our exit from site down country lane was quickly delayed by a bizarre Mexican stand off with angy crisp eating chap. Rather than following the accepted etiquette of both pausing for an oncoming car, this happy chappy drove nose to nose with us and refused to move, despite us being unable to do so. He then produced a bag of Walkers and set about snacking with exaggeratied actions, waiting for us to concede ground. Stuff that. I took out my phone and started watching videos. The impasse continued for several minutes before Mr point to prove gave in and reversed a full 20 yards to let us pass. What was that about? I exchanged pleasantries as as inched past our new friend. Passing Newtown we paused for impressively good fish and chips, and I was home around 9pm. Knackered but delighted. What next???
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