The mega alert sounded on Saturday afternoon with news that a Green Warbler had been found on Unst, at Settlers Hill, Baltasound, Shetland. Initially reported as a Greenish Warbler, the identification was later refined to a probable Green Warbler. The bird was subsequently trapped and ringed, with DNA samples taken to confirm its identity — a clear indication of the significance of the find.
Allan Conlin, who was staying at his house on Unst, had seen the bird and was keeping me closely updated. The bird had been discovered by Mike Pennington and was showing well. However, despite the best efforts by Fred Fearn, all available charters for Sunday were fully booked, leaving us with no option but to hope the bird would remain into Monday.
Encouragingly, the warbler showed throughout Sunday, raising hopes that it might still be present the following morning.
Early on Monday, I met up with Fred Fearn, Pete Antrobus and Simon Slade at Lymm Services on the M6, and we headed east towards York for our chartered flight north. Meanwhile, Allan had kindly risen very early to search for the bird ahead of our arrival.
Allan has kindly allowed me to use his photographs of the bird for my blog, a generous gesture that somehow both softened — and deepened — the frustration of missing such a rarity.
Some birds you see; others remain just out of reach. This one firmly belonged to the latter.
