Finders in the Field: Cretzschmar's Bunting, Bardsey June 2015
by Elfyn Lewis
A group of birdwatchers from the Porthmadog area have spent a week's holiday on Bardsey Island in North Wales every year for the last decade. We usually plan our annual pilgrimage to this magical isle to coincide with the peak Autumn or Spring migration. Its location in the Irish Sea means that Bardsey has a great reputation for attracting rare birds and has added two new birds to the British List. During past holidays to the island we have been fortunate to see great birds like Paddyfield, Melodious, Icterine and Subalpine Warblers a Common Rosefinch and scarce seabirds like Leach's Petrels, Sabine's Gulls and Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters.
Six of us, myself, Dewi, Robin, Ieuan Bryn, John Parry and Alan began our weekly break to Bardsey this year on June 7th, a day later than planned due to Colin Evans's boat not being able to cross the trecherous Bardsey Sound due to strong winds the previous day. A few days prior to our visit, a Red-breasted Flycatcher and a Shore Lark had been seen on the island and we began to think that we may have missed the best birds of Spring. On our arrival though, we were reassured by Steffan from the Bardsey Obs who reminded us that if a good bird were to turn up during our stay it may be something really special.
During our weekly holidays to Bardsey we like to contribute to the bird monitoring at the Bardsey Observatory and record the birds that we see every day. We attend the Bird Log most evenings at Cristin. The amount of birds and the number of bird species on the island during mid-June is low as compared to the peak migration periods but by Tuesday our group had already seen nearly 60 different species. We had enjoyed superb views of some of the Bardsey specialities like Chough and Manx Shearwaters and were hoping to see an interesting bird or two but hadn't seen any rare or scarce species in the first three days.
After the Bird Log on Tuesday evening, the conversation turned to the subject of the next new bird to be seen on Bardsey. With over 320 species of birds seen on or from the island, it is a difficult task adding a new species to the Bardsey bird list and Dartford Warbler and Egyptian Goose were mentioned in dispatches. Little did we realise that the following morning a few lucky people on the island would not only see a new species for Bardsey but a new bird being added to the Welsh list as well.
Wednesday, June 10th was another pleasant day on Bardsey. Most of the Porthmadog group had enjoyed an early morning walk through the middle of the island, checking the lowlands and the several withies on the island for migrant birds but without luck. Four of the group were resting on Solfach, the only sandy beach on the island when I decided an early lunch was in order. Two of us, myself and Ieuan Bryn, decided to retrace our steps northwards through the lowlands whilst the rest decided to search for a male Black Redstart which had been heard singing around the Lighthouse at the South end.
At around 11.15 we rejoined the dirt track that runs roughly North to South through the island and on which Hendy, the house where we were staying for the week, stood. Just after passing Cristin where the Bardsey Obs is based, I noticed a small bird perched on a stone wall below some buddleia bushes. I picked up my binoculars to have a better look and was pleasantly surprised to see a blue-headed bunting with a striking orange belly looking back at me! My first impression was that it was a summer plumaged Ortolan Bunting, a scarce bird in itself on the West coast of Wales but there was a niggling doubt in my head. It was a striking bunting and appeared more colourful than the images of breeding male Ortolans I had seen. Could it be the other similar rare emberiza bunting with the unpronouncable name? Not surprising, my knowledge of both these species is a little thin. Luckily, I had a camera with a 100-400 zoom lens with me. The mystery bird flew down to feed on the dirt track some 120 feet away from us and I tried to compose myself and take some record shots. During the very brief period the bird spent feeding in front of us I managed to get around 25 photographs in between watching the bird through binoculars. Most were out of focus, but thankfully a handful were good enough for us to eventually identify the bird.
Around a minute after the bunting landed on the track it flew low over the wall and disappeared into a hayfield. I decided the best thing to do was to try and get hold of staff or volunteers from the Observatory to alert them to the bird's presence and in case the bird returned. The Bird Observatory was thankfully only fifty yards from where we'd seen the bird but there was nobody home! A tense few minutes ensued before the warden, Steve Stansfield, was seen ambling up the road. "I've got something interesting, Steve. I think it's an Ortolan but we better check through the photos just in case!" Steve scanned through the photos and zoomed in on the better ones and started mentioning the magic Cretz word! "Have you any head on shots of the throat?" he enquired. We eventually found one and..... he was quickly on the radio to the other Obs staff and birders on the island - "Elfyn's just found a male Cretzschmar's outside Plas Bach!" Within a few minutes we were joined by an excited small crowd outside Plas Bach and I was showing them the images. The Cretzschmar's Bunting was seen briefly by Steve Hind from Bardsey Obs around an hour later but a further two days of frustration and pain followed before the Porthmadog posse eventually relocated the 'beast from the East' singing briefly on a fence on the road up to the lighthouse at the South end where it eventually gave itself up to the grateful masses over the next week.
It was an exciting few days on Bardsey. It was an emotional rollercoaster for all concerned. The thrill of finding such a special bird, a first for Wales, the two long days and the long faces before the bunting showed again and then the euphoria of the re-discovery and the hugs, the handshakes and the smiles all round. Unfortunately our holiday came to an end on Saturday, June 13th, a day before the Cretzschmar's was pinned down in the lighthouse compound. We missed out on Bardsey's biggest ever twitch but it's been fun following it all on the internet.
Elfyn Lewis
25 Jun 2015
Thanks to Ben Porter, Pete Hines, Chris Galvin and Bardsey Warden Steve Stansfield for their images and video.
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