News broke at 1pm that a Green Warbler had been trapped and ringed at Buckton on the east coast by Mark Thomas. I had tried for this species twice on Shetland and on Lundy Island but dipped both.
Green Warbler, a relatively recent split from Greenish Warbler, had previously been almost exclusive to offshore islands, so this was the first mainland twitchable bird. A quick phone call and I was off to meet Malc Curtin and Fred Fearne, and we were on site for 4.30pm.
There were already well over 100 Twitchers on site
There had been no sign of the bird for over four hours when we got there, and the odd shout went out, which were clearly 2 Willow warblers and a Pied flycatcher put in a brief appearance.
At 17.30, the green warbler showed at the bottom of a gap leading down into the bushes in a willow tree. I got great views of the bird, not realising that Malc and Fred hadn't connected.
The next few hours the bird didn't show again, so the drive home wasn't the best, but thankfully today they have been back and seen the bird.
Green warbler
This species is a summer visitor to northern Turkey, the Caucuses, and northern Iran, wintering to the south-east, predominantly on the Indian subcontinent. Despite the mega status it holds in Britain, it has occurred annually since 2016 (with another record in 2014), and it’s likely increased identification awareness will see this trend maintained.
There are six previous records
2019 Lizard(Village)-Cornwall-2CY+, 10 June, trapped, photo, DNA analysis
2018 Lundy Island-Devon-1CY, 7 October
2017 Fair Isle-Shetland- 2CY+ female, 4th–7th July, trapped, photo, DNA analysis
2016 Baltasound-Unst-Shetland-2CY+, 12th–15th May, trapped, photo, DNA analysis
2014 Foula Shetland-2CY+, 31st May to 4th June
1983-Lower Broome-St Marys-Isles Of Scillly-First Winter, 26th September to 4th October
Bempton Cliffs
A great afternoon's birding, and good to see so many familiar faces that I haven't seen for years.
