Two-barred Greenish Warbler – Budle Point, near Bamburgh, Northumberland, 30th September 2020
So, as may have been mentioned elsewhere, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was something of a write-off in terms of going to places seeking rare birds, whether finding our own or seeing someone else’s.
If only we had seen it coming, eh? ………. but 2020 vision isn’t always possible, not in the birding world anyway….. .
Certainly, autumn 2020 was a complete write off in terms of such ventures / adventures. Or almost, but not quite.
Three of us (as opposed to the usual crew of six) made it to the Isle of May between the 29th August and the 5th September, but the efforts of Ken Shaw, David Clugston and I, plus those of David Steel, et al., failed to produce too much.
Then, although I had rescued something from the wreckage of our long planned Unst trip (which would have been between around the 12th and the 30th September) which we had eventually had to cancel due to gentle pressure from Brydon Thomason (et al.?) suggesting we should do the right thing and not go to Unst, my reinvented trip (you’ve guessed it…..) also failed to produce too much.
Early on during the initial planning of Unst 2020 my co-organiser, Chris Pendlebury, had dropped out as he couldn’t get the two weeks involved off. He had, instead, planned a weekend on mainland Shetland, and then this, in turn, developed. Andy Carroll booked an Airbnb in Lerwick for a week between the 19th and the 25th September he and Chris intended to share. However, Andy struggled getting clearance for each element of an intended Shetland / Isle of May / Scilly triple header, and so, having negotiated with me, he dropped out, and I dropped in.
I saw this as some consolation for the cancelled Unst trip. I had even managed to change my long-booked flights to and from Shetland for a very reasonable £45.
All this provided some sort of salvation for the cancellation of the always ill-fated Unst trip. Even when the Lerwick Airbnb which Andy had booked suddenly cancelled with no explanation Chris (and I) rapidly arranged for an alternative Airbnb in Scalloway. There was even some optimism about our week; basing ourselves in Scalloway seemed just a little bit innovative rather than ‘safe’ (i.e., Lerwick or south Mainland). There was certainly the usual sense of anticipation…. .
However, unfortunately for us, Shetland was something of a bird free hell throughout our stay. We adopted a daily pattern of working the varied areas of good cover in Scalloway in the earlier part of the morning before checking the gardens at Asta House (and Asta Loch (and Tingwall Loch)). Then, we ventured further afield and checked sites on Tondra, East Burra and West Burra and / or South Mainland later on.
In doing so, we found a few Yellow-browed Warblers, but beyond that we were limited to one or two Pied Flycatchers, etc.. We also ‘twitched’ padders such as Surf Scoter, Red-backed Shrike and Lapland Bunting, but in wildlife terms a ‘showy’ Humpback Whale was the definite highlight. Not really what we envisaged. Being in Shetland, exploring new places, doing our own thing and spending time with just Chris (excellent company as ever) as opposed to a crew of six or so as ‘normal’ were all good, but….. .
All very depressing; as ever, a tale of what might have been. My mood wasn’t helped by the juxtaposition of this trip and the incredible occurrence of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher on Tiree (obviously a first for the Western Palaearctic) between the 14th (although actually only practically available from the 15th) and the 23rd September. By the time I had thought about it, it was too late; there was too little time to get to Tiree and back before my flight to Sumburgh on the 19th and by the time I was back in Edinburgh, inevitably, it had gone…… .
To make things worse, this ill-luck continued when, the very day we would have been leaving Unst to drive to south after our two weeks in Noosthamar came to an end, Dougie Preston found his Tennessee Warbler on Yell, the very first island we would be travelling through on our way south (or alternatively, this happened just four days after Chris and I had actually left mainland Shetland………). And, to make things even worse, an extremely showy Olive-backed Pipit had been found in the gardens of Asta House on the 27th September that we had assiduously checked every day between the 19th and 25th September…… .
As such, when what had initially been as a Yellow-browed Warbler on the 28th and part of the 29th September and a Greenish Warbler on part of the 29th September suddenly transmogrified into a Two-barred Greenish Warbler when it was suddenly Mega’ed at 17.26 that day I was interested, very interested….. .
I had no work constraints, or any constraints involving ‘trades’ at my new place 62 High Street, South Queensferry, or viewings at the old place… .
I was unconstrained!
Steely inadvertently video-called me on WhatsApp at some time before 20.00 on the evening of the 29th September (having sent me a WhatsApp message saying, “If only you were on Shetland…..”).
But by now I’d moved on, and had another mission. I video-called him back, and we discussed my options, and later Steely, being from the north-east of England, was able to provide access details and map taken from the Northumberland WhatsApp group. In addition, he was very helpfully able to provide confirmation that the bird had been seen going to roost……….. .
Steely also offered to give me any news from the WhatsApp group in the morning.
This proved unnecessary, as at 08.01 there was positive news on RBA.
As such, I was able to leave Queensferry at c.08.50, and after an excellent hassle-free drive, I arrived at Budle at c.10.30.
Before departing, to salve my conscience, I had messaged John Nadin at 08.19 to enquire whether he was interested. Unfortunately for John, it was his wife Norma’s birthday, so it was a no-go for him….. .
En-route John provided some not very positive news from site at c.09.00 via Andy Stirrat, who had been there since first light, suggesting that it had not seen it and that it was blowing a gale and was just starting to rain…… .
Other information I gleaned en-route and on arriving at Budle and parking up was that seemingly it had only seen once by one person; it was in the same area but had only called once and briefly showed in hawthorn and then flew into sycamores with a Chiffchaff….. .
Not the most promising of scenarios then.
My arrival was a tad fraught. Arriving involved negotiating some roadworks before parking in what was seemingly the right place (judging by the other cars parked alongside the road…). In addition, unhelpfully, I was bursting whilst the car was running VERY low on fuel.
Having briefly chatted to a returning birder (who didn’t do anything for my JSN-induced pessimism) I assembled my gear and set off from the coast road towards the site referred to as Budle Point… .
Although Steely had provided directions and an annotated O.S. map extract from the Northumberland WhatsApp site, it wasn’t immediately obvious how to get to where the bird was, or, at least, to where the pin had been dropped on the annotated map.
I opted to bear right at the first intersection on the track that led towards the coast from the road. This took me towards a complex of buildings at Newtown. As there was no sign of anyone, birders or residents (or visiting guests), I walked on towards what proved to be a group of self-containing accommodation along what proved to be a right-of-way. Beyond these buildings and a gate on the right-of-way, it become more obvious where I should be going; the next intersection offered a right-hand turn option which took me towards the Stablewood Cottages Caravan Site, where, finally (alright, just minutes later) birders were evident.
The caravan site occupied a small valley and the area beyond, adjacent to the south-east shores of Budle Bay. At the head of the valley was a very small copse of sycamore and ash. Some ten or so small trees were involved, some of which were adjacent to the uppermost the caravans on the north-east side of the caravan site access road through the valley. Beyond, to the east, was the Bamburgh Castle Golf Course. North-west of the copse of trees, and between the caravan site and the golf course, was an area of bracken scrub with isolated hawthorn bushes, with denser scrub and bushes further down the same valley side.
Some 40(?) or so birders were evident, mainly within the caravan site and or adjacent to the copse of sycamore and ash trees at the head of the valley, or alongside the valley on the very edge of the golf course.
It certainly wasn’t obviously where I should place myself. The sycamore and ash copse was windswept, and the caravan site itself was (strictly) off-limits. The gusty wind and persistent light rain showers didn’t help.
Nor did the bizarre sight of Lee Evans lying flat on his back underneath the sycamores saying that it was up in the trees above him where he could hear it calling but couldn’t see it….. .
I decided that any sensible phyllos wouldn’t be in the windswept copse and would be in the denser more sheltered cover further down the valley, and so I made my way there. This proved to no avail, so I made my way back (with some difficulty due to my failing balance). I can’t remember whether I made my way all the way back to the top end of the caravan site and back or not but certainly within an hour or so of me arriving on site there was a flurry of activity when the bird briefly showed in the largest hawthorn alongside the golf course.
Unfortunately, although it did show in said hawthorn, a combination of me being not particularly well-placed and the inability of those who were on it to give coherent directions to enable others to get on it thwarted me. LGRE (and others) gave directions that included, ‘It’s near the obvious lichen…..’, etc., etc..
As a result, although I had brief naked eye views as it flitted on the lower edges of the bush, I failed to get any proper views in my binoculars. Frustratingly, my ‘best’ views were of a striking bright olive- green phyllos type warbler flying away from me as it flew from the hawthorn back to the sycamores. It was some time before 12.30.
I had deliberately tried to avoid the horrendous racist that is LGRE, but bizarrely he came to me and said, “You’re Brian aren’t you? You used to come to the Scillies years ago…”. Fame at last…. .
There then followed a lllllooooonnnnnggggg interlude before the next showing. Very little happened during the intervening time. It just didn’t ‘feel’ very promising. The bird was hugely elusive and seemingly was ‘favouring’ the windswept trees of the copse where it could apparently be occasionally heard but never seen. There wasn’t a huge amount of cover – just ten or so smallish sycamores and ashes – but the bird became invisible when in them. It was all very strange; sure, it was windy and rainy, but lots of eyes were looking.
A long period with no sign ensued…….. .
Thankfully, reacquainting myself with both Andy Close and Euan McLachlan certainly helped, although my ‘i.d.’ was shocking, and initially I failed to recognise both them. I did though recognise the unmistakable Jumbo from Fair Isle and was amused by his discussions with his mate about whether to abandon this mission and continue on to Shetland…. . Yep, I’m only playing at it….. .
The gathered throng was certainly a mixed bunch – local birders coming back for more, travelling twitchers hoping for a tick, some of whom, I think, were ‘born again’ birders, recently retired ‘I know, I’ll take up birding’ birders, ‘all the gear and no idea’. Perhaps harsh, but certainly a feature of 21st century birding. Anyway, as ever, the birders present were of varying abilities. Andy Close stood out in this context, constantly looking, constantly trying something different; certainly not just standing around aimlessly. At one stage he gestured to me from the lower edge of the copse within the caravan site as I was standing adjacent to it on the tee of one of the holes on the golf course. He was suggesting he could hear it nearby, having clearly recognised me, but I failed to recognise him. Maybe it was the cool shades and the sharp civvy clothes that threw me; I didn’t remember him being dressed this way on Fair Isle. Later we coincided and he prompted my dim memory and we chatted and birded together. It was Andy who briefly located the bird at least once; bizarrely on one occasion it was seen in the bare branches very close to the top of the windswept sycamores…. .
Similarly, Euan McLachlan who again I had noticed as being a proactive birding but failed to recognise until he (re-)introduced himself to me as the person who had attended my talk on the taiga bean geese and who I had then pointed in the direction of getting work with Andy Carroll.
Much more straightforward was my recognition of Darren Woodhead who I spotted arriving along the coastal path alongside the golf course from the Stag Rocks / Bamburgh direction. I made my way from the caravan site towards him, and having intercepted him and quickly appraised him of the situation, we opted to sit on a bank on the edge of the golf course overlooking the valley. We chatted at some length watching what was going on as we did all the time.
The rain had stopped somewhile earlier, but it was still windy, perhaps more so, and as such, it was difficult to believe that the bird was still in the copse as seemingly small and ‘easily’ viewed as it was. Chatting to Darren (who I was able to thank for being so generous with his talent when Tessa and Ellen had arranged to get my birthday present from him) certainly helped make the long vigil better, but there was a distinct feeling by now that it wasn’t going to be…. .
I mentally wrestled with the dilemma of whether my earlier views had been good enough, but I knew they hadn’t, so I began reconciling myself to leaving the scene of a twitch without seeing the bird well enough to count.
Finally, though, there was a flurry of action down in the caravan site near the copse, and, in summary, the bird suddenly became relatively cooperative whilst moving from the sycamores to the largest hawthorn and back on a couple or more occasions. In doing so, I was finally able to get myself in the right place at the right time.
I’m not suggesting for one minute that the bird gave itself up; it was still elusive and flighty, being often either deep in cover in the hawthorn or suddenly moving back into the sycamores. But crucially, twice when it was in the hawthorn, I just about managed to keep on it as it rapidly moved through the interior of the bush and thankfully very briefly occasionally appeared ‘in the open’ (at least partially!) on the outer margins.
On the last such occasion the photographer Mike Barth was next to me and one or two others as I had my best views and he was able to get his best shots… . As such, Darren and I asked him for his contact details and Mike was then good enough to send me the accompanying superb image which captures how I saw it when eventually I saw it well (enough).
My views were very brief, admittedly, but I was finally able to see the stonking pale supercilium, and, eventually the striking pale wing-bar(s). Otherwise, it was a typical phyllos with mainly off-white underparts, and dull green upperparts. It had a slightly darker green eye-stripe. I was only vaguely aware of the colour of the legs and bill (both of which were broadly Willow Warbler-like).
Most of all though, my abiding impression was how well the finders had done pinning down this elusive bird sufficiently well for it to be specifically identified. I could now well understand why the bird had had a difficult gestation from Yellow-browed Warbler to Greenish Warbler to Two-barred Greenish Warbler. Certainly, it had close similarities to both (and indeed, as discussed with Darren, to Arctic Warbler, and, dare I say, Eastern Crowned Warbler). It was smaller than the latter pair, bigger than Yellow-browed Warbler and (just) bigger than Greenish Warbler. But this was marginal, in all instances. Interestingly, Darren and I thought there were similarities in terms of structure and general appearance with Arctic Warbler; I thought it was surprisingly stocky looking.
In relation to Yellow-browed Warbler it lacked the pale tips to the tertials, and the wing was overall plainer, whilst in relation to both Greenish Warbler and Arctic Warbler the shape and size of the wing-bars and eye-stripe / supercilium were subtly different, but perhaps not on my views, and perhaps only in regard of careful analysis of photographic images.
However, it became very obvious that the distinctive House Sparrow / Pied Wagtail like fast, ‘pitchew-wee’ was crucial to the identification of this bird; certainly, I heard this more frequently than I saw the bird!
Having finally had very brief, but more than adequate views, I opted to leave at c.15.30. Again, despite reaching the Edinburgh by-pass in what in ‘normal’ times was rush hour the journey was hassle free and I arrived home at c.17.45.
Five hours for some very brief views, but now I am getting closer to 500 I cannot expect new birds to be easy. At least it was less than two hours away, and as such, despite ongoing COVID-19 and increasing environmental concerns, easy to justify on this basis. In terms of base statistics Two-barred Greenish Warbler was my 497th species in the UK / British Isles, and this particular individual was seemingly the eighth for the UK….. .
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