Finders-in-the-Field: Black-and-white Warbler, Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Oct 2020
I have been birding since the late 1970s. I started at the age of 13 and still remember seeing my first Yellowhammer. For years we covered our local patches. Gradually, we gained in experience and our birding widened out and in 1985 we were introduced to the magic that was, and still is, The Isles of Scilly.
Over the years, I have had the joy of finding a number of rare and scarce species whether on my local patch or elsewhere. The best, and most recent, being a Red-eyed Vireo on Scilly some years back. I remember how I felt when finding this species but that still didn’t prepare me for what was to happen this year.
Since our arrival on Scilly on 5th October, birding head been difficult with few migrants and even fewer scarce species.
The 8th October started out as a bit of a ‘nothing day’, I had worked Old Town church yard and Lower Moors, only adding the likes of Blackcap and Kingfisher to the trip list. So, I decided to give the Arctic Warbler on Tresco a go. I still wasn’t impressed with the decision I had made but there was nothing I could do about that now – as I was on the boat! Two Little Egrets, Curlew and four Pale-bellied Brent Geese were added to the list on the trip over. Two boats had come over in the morning but there seemed to be little enthusiasm for the bird still being present. Gradually, people started to spread out and look further afield.
I decided to head toward Castle Down where an American Golden Plover had been found. Always a nice bird to see and this one showed well. From Castle Down I decided to make my way down to Carnvear for an early boat back to St Marys as my legs were giving me some gip - earlier in the year I had spent 14 weeks recovering from a football related Achilles injury. I was in quite a bit of pain, so took full advantage of every bench en route. On the way down to the Great Pool we had lunch and did a Turnstone count and at the Swarovski hide a duck count. This just added three more common species to the trip list.
After 10 minutes of resting my legs we carried on down Pool Lane to catch the early boat. Even though by this time I was limping, that didn’t stop me checking out a group of Goldcrests above my head in a small Pine tree. For the next three hours or so, having missed the boat, my legs didn’t hurt at all because what presented itself in my binoculars was a stonking male Black-and-White Warbler. A few choice phrases from the Queens English like ‘what the ****’ and ‘you have to be ******* joking’ were used to try and grasp the reality of what I was now looking at.
For what felt like a very long minute I watched the Black-and-White Warbler no more than 10ft from me crawl along and down one of the main branches behaving like a Nuthatch, until it disappeared behind the back of the tree. At this point it was time to get the message out but all bodily functions seemed to have failed. My hands didn’t work, my fingers couldn’t type and the rush of adrenaline was unreal. The message went out and within a few minutes the first birders started to arrive. The bird disappeared for a short while but thankfully over the next 15 minutes, 6 or so birders had seen the bird. The bird then relocated to the Sallows of the pool side of the lane. Over the next few hours, this stunning little bird was enjoyed by possibly 200 or more birders as they arrived from other islands eager to catch a glimpse.
Even after watching the bird on and off for so long, the reality of what was there still didn’t sink in.
With virtual hugs and fist bumps all round I managed to catch the last boat to St Marys. Finding that bird kept my spirits high for the rest of the trip, mattering not if we saw nothing else of note. Over the following days as birders left the islands, many approached me to say they had had a great trip and thoroughly enjoyed their time, partly due to my find.
These are just the rewards for being in the right place at the right time.
Lloyd Doughty
26 October 2020
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