The second record for the UK of Wilson's Warbler, a male, was found by resident birder Tony Marr & visiting birder Roy Dennis at Port Nis, Isle of Lewis on 13th October 2015. The only other UK record was a male at Rame Head, Cornwall on 13th October 1985, a one day bird. There was another in Ireland, a first-winter male at Dursey Island from 18th to 21st September 2013.
Arrangements had already been made for my departure from Shetland. A hugely enjoyable month overall with lots of great birds & birding, although no new birds in the second half. Since news broke on Tuesday I was pondering how I could best make the journey home via the Outer Hebrides?
As the Friday night boat departed Lerwick several birders collected on deck to see what birds were about. Not much was seen & dusk was rapidly approaching. Talk inevitably turned to the Wilson's Warbler. Four birders from Manchester I'd met a few times recently at Hoswick, Quendale & Gulberwick were aboard & it soon became clear that only one of them, Andy Makin from Wigan, could make the trip to Lewis since the other three had to return home, as planned. One of the others arrived on deck with another birder I recognised as having seen about, Gavin Peplow from Worcestershire. Gavin was going to Lewis, had a car & was keen on a couple of companions! I was in immediately!!! Andy had to think about it for a while, but decided to go with Gavin & myself.
There were a few options to consider. The boat docked at Aberdeen 7am Saturday, but the boat from Ullapool to Stornaway sailed at 10.30am, not giving us enought time to make the journey from Aberdeen to Ullapool. The next boat sailed from Ullapool at 6.30pm, which would mean we wouldn't be in a position to see the bird until Sunday morning. We also discussed the possibility of flying from Inverness & hiring a car.
We made our way westwards from Aberdeen on Saturday morning under a clear blue, sunny sky. It was a gorgeous day. When news arrived of the bird still being there we all felt the necessity of seeing it this day & not the next, so we quickly agreed flying from Inverness at 12.10pm & being on site early afternoon was the best option.
Navigating websites on my phone trying to find flight info proved tricky, so I phoned instead. Whilst waiting a few official messages played, one of which stated that without a photo ID boarding a plane was not possible. This was confirmed when I did get through & was also informed seats were available. Gulp! I didn't have any photo ID with me! Gavin & Andy both had photo ID. We racked our brains for a solution. I even tried phoning work to see if they could send me anything, but was told it's Saturday so no one's in the office, d'oh! Gavin suggested using a photo booth & inserting a photo with my driving licence, an old green paper one, might be worth a go. It was a plan! We stopped at the next superstore (of which there seem to be quite a few in Scotland) & put the plan into effect.
Upon arrival at Inverness airport, I asked if my photo ID was sufficient? Although initially saying it shouldn't be a problem, after consultation turned out it was a problem & wasn't acceptable. I asked to speak with the person who'd been spoken to & as instructed, waited in the check-in queue for a while. Apart from the photo & driving licence I produced a pdf of the receipt from the Lerwick to Aberdeen ferry which confirmed my address, then also pulled out a couple of plastic cards on request. A phone call to a manager resulted in my photo ID deemed acceptable. Phew! We then had to go through all the palaver of moving the car to a different car park whilst collecting our stuff, purchasing our tickets & departure lounge search, so managed to make the flight as it was boarding. At Stornaway we hired a small car for 24hrs & arrived on site around 2pm. As "Hannibal" Smith used to say, "I love it when a plan comes together."
The Wilson's Warbler was on view pretty much as soon as we arrived. However, sightings were brief so it took a while to gain adequate views in the cover behind Tony Marr's house. I hadn't had time to acquaint myself with the site when the bird darted over into next door's back garden. All the birders present rushed around into the garden. Realising I would be right at the back I didn't bother & waited for a reappearance outside the garden. Eventually, it did reappear for brief views. By this time many birders had departed, having gained good views in the garden, so I resolved to wait in the garden opposite the bird's favoured apple trees
After a short wait the Wilson's Warbler suddenly appeared in the tree just behind my left shoulder a few feet away & quickly darted into the apple trees. Absolutely superb views were obtained. The nearer apple tree was too close for me to focus on, so every time it was in the near tree I had to wait until it returned to the far tree to view through bins. Everyone in the garden was absolutely quiet. The only sound was the repeated machine gun like bursts from one of the cameras present.
Tony Marr provided excellent hospitality with tea, coffee & biscuits. Having partaken of hospitality & chatted with Tony about his amazing find, we departed for Stornoway & a search for our night's lodgings. Having tried a few places en route, we stumbled on the Caladh Inn on James Street, which was reasonable & pleasant with good food. Restaurant, licensed & all-you-can-eat breakfast, with nice shower.
We returned to Port Nis the following morning, but the bird had gone. Our scheduled return flight on Sunday wasn't due to leave until 3pm, so we birded a few areas including the bay close to the airport where we saw loads of Long-tailed Ducks, several Black-throated Divers & a Great Northern Diver.
The flight was repeatedly delayed until we boarded a flight which was going on to Glasgow five hours late! We arrived back at Inverness shortly before 9pm & set off south. Gavin & Andy dropped me off in Wigan shortly before 5am. I had a while to wait until the first train to Liverpool just after 6am, which arrived about 7am. Another short wait for the first bus over the river at 7.30am & I was home by 8am.
There's quite a few photos online of the Wilson's Warbler, but these are two of my favourites: this one by Matthew Eade which I'd whip out on my phone for anyone interested & this one by Tony Dixon.
Thanks to Tony Marr & his neighbour for allowing birders into his back garden. Big thanks to Gavin for all the driving & to both he & Andy for the pleasant company. Having to overcome some difficulties in order to see the target bird can often make the sighting that much sweeter, which was indeed so in this case. Video by Pete Hines.
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