What began as an ordinary Sunday evening playing snooker at my local club quickly turned into something rather extraordinary. Mid-frame, I received a text from Fred Fearn with the words every birder dreams of — and scarcely believes: a Black-billed Cuckoo had been found at Bayhead, North Uist.
A few rapid phone calls followed. Only Pete Antrobus was willing to commit to the long overnight dash north. The snooker match was swiftly abandoned, and within minutes I was heading home to grab essentials in the hope of making the first ferry from Uig the following morning.
I picked Pete up in Northwich around 9pm, and we headed north through the night, arriving at Uig just before 6am. Sleep wasn’t an option, so I spent the early hours birding around the harbour while waiting for the 9.40am ferry. Highlights included Common Sandpiper, Sedge Warbler, Song Thrush and Linnet — a gentle warm-up for what lay ahead.
Common Sandpiper
Sedge Warbler
Song Thrush
Linnet
We hadn’t booked the car onto the ferry, and with the terminal office not opening until 9am, there was a moment of tension. Thankfully, there was space, and we made it on board — just as news broke that the cuckoo was still showing. By now, all the familiar twitching faces had gathered; all that remained was the crossing.
The ferry sailed on time, and the journey produced a superb supporting cast: Black Guillemot, Puffin, Guillemot, Razorbill, Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Black- and Red-throated Divers, and even a White-tailed Eagle. Throughout the crossing, updates on the cuckoo continued to come through — a rare luxury on a twitch of this magnitude.
Pete, with a smile on his face, knowing he's going to get one ahead of Fred with the Black billed Cuckoo
Arriving at Lochmaddy
On arrival at Lochmaddy, we joined a convoy of birders heading across North Uist. The tension dissolved instantly on arrival: the bird was showing in a garden bush, feeding calmly. Seeing a Black-billed Cuckoo in Britain is something most birders never expect to experience, and to find it feeding actively, catching caterpillars and flying around freely, felt almost surreal. It was, quite simply, magnificent.
Everyone present — Pete very much included — was delighted to be “gripping back” this true mega.
Black billed Cuckoo
Happy Twitchers
With the bird safely admired, we returned to Lochmaddy to secure accommodation and celebrate appropriately. A room was found at the local hostel — remarkably cheap — followed by a well-earned pint at the hotel.
Pete and me in the Lochmaddy Hotel
The day was far from over. We headed back out birding, first stopping at RSPB Balranald, where Corncrakes were calling — up to four birds, with one showing briefly. A Glaucous Gull lingered in nearby fields, Corn Buntings sang persistently, and the beach held good numbers of Dunlin and Sanderling.
Glaucous Gull
Corn Bunting
The beach at Balranald
Sanderling
Dunlin
Completing an island loop back towards Lochmaddy, we enjoyed excellent views of Golden Eagles in the north of the island and also found four Whooper Swans. After an outstanding day, it was back for food and a few more celebratory pints.
Leaving Uig and heading west
Me taking a break from driving at Glen Coe
I was up again at 6am to catch the ferry back to Uig, utterly exhausted. I drove onto the boat and slept almost the entire crossing. The long journey home finally ended at 8pm, shattered but immensely satisfied. It was one of those twitches that remind you exactly why we do it.
This North Uist bird represents only the 15th record for Britain. The last twitchable individual was on the Isles of Scilly in 1982, where it remained for three days. Most records involve exhausted autumn migrants, many of which were found dead.
Previous British records include:
Orkney
Holland House, North Ronaldsay, first-winter, 23rd October
Isles of Scilly
Trenoweth, St Mary's, 10th October, dead, 11th October
At sea
Sea area Forties, Maureen oil platform, 58°08'N 01°42'E, found exhausted 30th September, taken into care, released 1st October, photo
Isles of Scilly
Porthloo Lane, St Mary's, first-winter, 12th October, photo
Cheshire & Wirral
Red Rocks, Hoylake, Wirral, first-winter, 30th October, photo
Devon
Barnstaple, first-winter, caught 21st October, released 22nd October
Isles of Scilly
Borough/Telegraph area, St Mary's, 21st to 22nd October; same, Hugh Town, 23rd October, found dead on 24th October
Isles of Scilly
St Agnes, juvenile, 29th August; same, near Campsite, found dead, 30th August, photo
Cleveland/Yorkshire, North
Locke Park, Redcar, trapped, 23rd to 24th September
Devon
Lundy, first-winter male, 19th October, found dead 20th October, now at Leicester Museum
Cornwall
Gweek, Monday, 30th October
Shetland
Foula, picked up exhausted, 11th October, died 12th October, now at Natural History Museum, Tring (BMNH 1953.69.1)
Argyll
Achnaslishaig Hill, Southend, Kintyre, first-winter, 6th November, found dead, 8th November, now at Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery, Glasgow (GLAMG Z.1950.132)
Isles of Scilly
Tresco, immature, picked up dead after hitting wall, 27th October, photo, now at Isles of Scilly Museum
No comments:
Post a Comment