A Twitch to the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides – Tuesday 13th October 2015 and the UK bird news was shaken by the discovery of a North American Wilson’s Warbler, discovered at Port Nis, on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, by local birder Tony Marr. Needless to say, it got the hearts racing of the twitching fraternity. The second record for Britain, (1985 Rame Head, Cornwall was the first, some 30 years ago!!) a real Mega and I really wanted to see this bird but was faced with a few dilemmas. I knew it would be a daunting, slog of a journey, some 1200 miles there and back, could I really face it and in any case, I couldn’t get till the weekend. Would the bird really stay that long?
Thursday 15th October and it was still present and was continuing to perform in the small scrub and garden area where it was found. It had obviously found somewhere to it’s liking and had a favoured circuit. Decision time. My wife made the decision for me, Why don’t we go!!!!! What!! We have friends who live on Lewis, so we could check out ferry times, best options and various other local details. A few phone calls later and a very kind offer from Lin & Dave of putting us up for the necessary over night stay and the decision to go was made. We set off from Derby at 7:30pm and headed off to Ullapool, arriving at the harbor around 4am on Saturday 17th October. Our ferry wasn’t till 10:30am, so head down for a few hours. The return Ferry was on Sunday at 2:30pm arriving back in Ullapool at 5pm.
Clear skies overnight, clear blue skies and sun at dawn, all the ingredients for a rare warbler to depart. Would it still be there? After a cracking breakfast at a nearby hotel, we were soon boarding the ferry, along with other birders that had made the journey, for our 1:30pm arrival at Stornaway. As we set sail at 10;30, news suddenly broke that the Wilson’s Warbler was still there. Talk about exhilaration and excitement, an understatement. There was a “buzz” amongst the birders. The journey from Stornoway to Port Nis took me less than 40 minutes and by 2:20pm and after an anxious wait, I was soon watching a fabulous male Wilson’s Warbler. Wow!!. Probably the most stunning bird I have seen in the UK, certainly, I would say, matching the Yellow-throated Vireo. The atmosphere was electric and everyone on site managed to get superb views of the bird as it was frantically feeding in the warm autumn sunshine. It showed on and off for the rest of the afternoon. One of those magical “Birding Days” made all the more magical by fantastic weather, fantastic scenery, great birders and fantastic hospitality from our friends Lin & Dave. Many thanks to Tony Marr for discovering the bird and lastly a big thank you to my wife for helping me make the decision to go. Her first major twitch, she saw the bird (the only none birder on site) and helped with the driving. Brilliant in my book…. We also saw a few Snow Buntings, a Merlin, lots of Redwings, Golden Plover, Rock Dove, Stonechat, Arctic Skua, Twite, Great Northern Diver, Gannet, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Harbour Porpoise, but sadly I missed out on the eagles. Can’t have it all I guess. On Sunday morning, I went back to Port Nis, in the hope of some more views, but sadly the bird had gone, obviously taking advantage of another clear and calm evening. We arrived back home early hours of Monday morning 19th October, having travelled well over 1200 miles all told. A Lifer and the Year List moves on to 239.
Ullapool – Dawn on the morning of 17th October 2015 – Tony Davison©
Our transport to Lewis – Tony Davison©
Port Nis, Isle of Lewis, Saturday afternoon 17th October 2015 – Tony Davison©
Wilson’s Warbler – male – “The Fuchsia is Bright, the Fuchsia is Yellow”!! – Port Nis, Lewis, Outer Hebrides – Tony Davison©
Wilson’s Warbler – male – Port Nis, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides – 17th October 2015 – Above 5 images – Tony Davison©
Snow Bunting – winter male – Port Nis Cemetery, Lewis – Tony Davison©
Golden Plover – Port Nis, Isles of Lewis, flushed by a Merlin – Tony Davison©
Herring Gull – Stornoway Harbour – Sunday 18th October 2015 – Tony Davison©
You got your shots then.
Hi Richard – Yes – not perfect but well pleased considering how active the bird was and the limited area in the garden where one could stand.
In hindsight I think I would have been better using my 400 with converter and handheld rather than 500 with tripod. Anyway I’m not disappointed.:-)