Julian Hughes write in his ‘North Wales Bird Notes’ :“Fast-moving Atlantic low-pressure systems in the autumn trigger expectation among west-coast birders hoping to find a North American songbird. Most storms occur in October, when the majority of southbound migrants are already well out of the way, but ex-hurricane Lee last week deposited an unprecedented number of vagrants into Britain & Ireland. Hundreds of birds probably made landfall, most never to be found in remote coastal areas, but of those that were, Wales was the focus for some of the rarest.
Pembrokeshire kicked off last Wednesday with Wales’ first ALDER FLYCATCHER on Skokholm and first MAGNOLIA WARBLER on St Govan’s Head. On Thursday, Wales’ fourth BOBOLINK was found on Skokholm, first BAY-BREASTED WARBLER on Ramsey and a RED-EYED VIREO near Porthcawl. North Wales joined the party with Wales’ second BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER found by ringers on Bardsey. Friday brought Wales’ first CLIFF SWALLOW to Sker Point and another BOBOLINK was reported in the Vale of Glamorgan. Remarkably, young Chester-based birder, Toby Phelps, who found the MAGNOLIA WARBLER, only the third ever in Britain, surpassed that on Saturday morning with Britain’s first CANADA WARBLER at nearby Flimston. Saturday brought a second BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER to Bardsey, now the only two ever to be ringed in Europe and another CLIFF SWALLOW found by birders visiting Ramsey. Sunday saw, incredibly, a second MAGNOLIA WARBLER, this time at Briton Ferry near Port Talbot, but bad weather frustrated clinching the identification of an American flycatcher at Pen Cilan, near Porth Neigwl. One in six of the North American songbirds ever recorded in Wales arrived last week, and there may be more to find, with more storms forecast from Wednesday.”
STOP PRESS: A third BLACK – AND-WHITE WARBLER trapped on Bardsey on the morning of 27th September!! Maybe they’re breeding there!
The bold capitals indicate that all these nearctic species are not just on the WBRC rarities list, but the UK BBRC list. Whilst these finds are really exciting, one wonders how many of these small birds perished when blown off-course across the Atlantic.
