BAY BREASTED WARBLER-RAMSEY ISLAND-CANADA WARBLER-GOVAN'S HEAD-PEMBROKESHIRE-23RD SEPTEMBER 2023

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 Bay-breasted Warbler had remained on Friday 22nd and had showed well throughout the day.I now had 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.

My boat was at 12pm so i arranged to pick Sean cole up on the way down who was camping a few miles from Ramsey Island.News broke on the way down that a Canada Warbler had been found and it  was just up the road close to the Magnolia warbler (which was still there) and had been found by the same birder.Unbelievable!

I made it down to Sean's just after 9.30am and Trudy had the bacon sandwiches on,just what i needed after a long drive.

                                             

Happy days

After a good breakfast me and Sean made our way to the site for the 12.00pm boat and were greeted by the usual faces.A Wryneck was found by the coastal footpath and showed really well as we waited for the boat.

Wryneck 

We got aboard the boat and we were off and the bird thankfully was still showing well.

All aboard!

When we arrived on the island we were briefed by the wardens and then we made our way up the hill to look down on the farmhouse garden

       

Birders waiting for the first glimpse of the Bay breasted warbler

The Bay breasted warbler eventually showed in the farmhouse garden and then showed really well on a stone wall.

I can say this bird was a cracker, a class individual. They're not always as clean and bright as this one, and it showed a treat in the willows and bracken alongside a few Goldcrests, a female Blackcap and a couple of Chiffchaffs. It was a a real pleasure to watch in a relaxed mood and in a stunning location,with Choughs overhead a Peregrine briefly taking attention away from the bird of the day. Unsurprisingly the twitch had gone well and fair play to RSPB for their friendly assistance. Apparently the police presence was down to a kayaker accessing the island without permission the day before, which was a risk to pupping seals and biosecurity. I don't know if he was a twitcher, but it seemed unlikely that a flotilla of kayak-owning twitchers would descend onto the island.

Two yanks in three days and we still had the Canada warbler to see!There is only one previous record of Bay Breasted warbler and this was on the 1st October at Lands end in Cornwall in 1995 https://britishbirds.co.uk/sites/default/files/V90_N10_P444-449_A120.pdf.

As I stood in the sunshine the american arrival of 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.,Yanks were falling from the sky!

Anyway we got back to the boat back at 14.00, 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.  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 with Sam viles and there it was moving right in the top of the bushes before coming out on show and then flew further right.It was on!What a bird 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.I saw the Canada warbler briefly again later on but the bird was so elusive,

Three yanks in a week, Unbelievable!

Thankfully Sean had seen the bird well so we headed back to the car,i dropped Sean off back at his camper van and headed north arriving back home just after 8pm.Great day and one i'll never forget! 

MAGNOLIA WARBLER-St GOVAN'S HEAD-PEMBROKESHIRE-21ST SEPTEMBER 2023

The arrival of American landbirds this week has been on a different level.Many of us have been watching the developing Hurricane Lee on the eastern seaboard of the US and it definitely looked like the business. But no-one anticipated what was to come. We are in unchartered territory.Really, it's better to read Birdguides weekly summary than me even attempt to do the events justice, but I will borrow their phrase 'Yankmageddon'. 

Hurricane Lee on its way to hit the UK mainland 

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. 

Late in the morning a photo appeared on my whatsapp group"Magnolia Warbler". One of these near-mythical birds that a handful of birders had seen,this was game-on,wherever it was. Moments later the location came through,mainland near Pembroke in South Wales. After that it was a case of making plans, and heading off for the next morning

I picked up Sean cole on the M5 and we arrived at the car park on St Govan's Head around 10.00 am and hastily walked the 500m or so to the valley. The bird showed within moments.There's no better addition to the list than an American warbler,we soaked it in, with the bird showing intermittently but well for the next hour and a half. How easy was that? 

Magnolia Warbler

As we watched the Magnolia warbler 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. As we stood in the crowd Adrian webb booked me and Sean seats on a boat for saturday morning.. We'd have to wait 48 hours, and make the return journey to South Wales if the bird decided to linger.Roll on saturday!