The Blackburnian Warbler event, Bryher 13&16/10/2022
So... it was 1pm, we were sitting in the Old Town cafe on St Mary's, our ciabatta had just arrived and the MEGA-alert went off - reporting a Blackburnian Warbler on Bryher. Several people got up and ran - heading for the quay, and we seriously considered picking up our ciabatta and running with it. But a second message reported that the tide was low and it was unlikely that a boat could leave for Bryher before 3pm. So we relaxed and enjoyed our lunch - plenty of time to get to the quay. But some frantic negotiation was occurring between leaders of the birding establishment and the St Mary's boatmen - and a cunning plan was formulated. Rushing for the quay was back on - but we had finished our lunch by then. We got to the quay in time to see the boat leaving ... but it had left about 40 birders on the quay with more following on behind us ... never fear a second boat was on the way. We travelled around the south side of Sampson to reach Rushy Bay on Bryher. Here we found the first boat transferring its passengers to a zodiac/rib, 10-12 at a time. When sufficient people had decanted from the first boat we moved across onto it and it was our turn to be transferred to shore, wading the last few metres.
We heard later that the 3pm boat ran aground trying to get to the quay. It was loaded with all the birders who were to infirm, aged or obese to manage the Zodiac transfer and wade. Aparrently, it was refloated by moving the obese people to the front of the boat.
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It was a 10 minute yomp from Rushy Bay to Popplestone Fields where the bird had been found. There were about 100 people there by the time we arrived and the bird had not been seen for almost an hour. After a little time some people were seeing it at the end of the field but was only giving glimpses rather than full views - eventually though it came closer and put on a good show. By the time we left there were 300 people there - pretty much all the birders on the islands.
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Blackburnian Warbler is a North American wood warbler. Many of these are brightly coloured in their breeding plumage but can be relatively drab in the autumn. This bird was a particularly smart 1st winter male. This was its 4th occurrence in Britain, and its 1st appearance in England - it was a UK ✔️ for pretty much everyone on Scilly. We went back for another look 3 days later and on this occasion it was in pretty much constant view for an hour. Some images from this visit are in the gallery below - click on an image to enlarge and scroll through.