The arrival of American landbirds this week has been on a different magnitude. Many of us had been watching the developing Hurricane Lee on the eastern seaboard of the US, and it definitely looked the business. But no-one anticipated what was to come. We are in unchartered territory.
Really, it's better to read the excellent Birdguides weekly summary than me even attempt to do the events justice, but I will borrow their phrase 'Yankmageddon'.
In the morning of the 20th September the first clue of what was to come hit. A Blackburnian Warbler on a remote and inaccessible Irish island. Those of us who list Ireland and the UK were thankful of last year's fabulous bird on Scilly (so much for a one-off). What was next? Over the course of the day the Whatsapp groups has been on fire with speculation and anticipation.
Late in the afternoon, just as I arrived home, a photo appeared on the group. Magnolia Warbler. One of these near-mythical birds that a handful had seen in the early eighties but no-one else. There was a one day bird on Fair Isle in 2012 that me and a few foolish others got as far as Wick for, but those were the only previous records. This was game-on, wherever it was. Moments later the location came through, incredibly it was on the mainland, near Pembroke in South Wales. After that it was a case of making plans, and heading off for the next morning.
I was joined by Malc, Simon Slade and the effervescent Welsh Ed. It's a long drive across country to that part of the world, and we set-off a little later than we ought to have (at 3.30am), so it was light before we arrived and happily positive news had come through quickly.
We arrived at the car park on St Govan's Head around 8.15am and hastily walked the 500m or so to the valley. The bird showed within moments. MAGNOLIA WARBLER - OML. There's no better addition to the list than an American warbler, and they are truly rare here. It doesn't matter how many I've seen in the US, this is special. We soaked it in, with the bird showing intermittently but well for the next hour and a half. How easy was that?
As we watched another photo appeared on the Whatsapp Group. Bay-breasted Warbler on Ramsay, just 20 miles away. WTF - that's even rarer than the Mag!!! Panic amongst the crowd was quickly tempered when it became apparent there was no chance of boats today, or tomorrow, due to swell after the storm. Bugger. As we set-off homeward word of Saturday boats was shared and Simon hastily booked 4 spots on the first one at 10am. We'd have to wait 48 hours, and make the return journey to South Wales if the bird decided to linger. As we drove home more news of American birds came through, nothing overly rare but nevertheless something truly incredible was happening.
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| The finder's shared shot. (Toby Phelps). What a fabulous moment that must've been for him. |
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