Asian Desert Warbler on Holy Island!

When talking about which birds I'd most like to see on Holy Island, the same few species often crop up in the conversation - Black Lark, Asian Desert Warbler or Cretzschmar's Bunting to name a few. However, I never really expected to see any of them. That was about to change on Monday evening as I was sat around the house not doing very much...

A notification came up on my phone saying that the Sylvia warbler seen very briefly on Holy Island earlier in the day had been relocated and identified as an Asian Desert Warbler. Wow. Just the 13th to be seen in the UK and first in Northumberland, we were heading north within five minutes. Two sets of temporary traffic lights and a level crossing seemed determined to stop us and the fog and darkness was closing in, making us even more nervous. 

On arrival at The Snook we were greeted by a small group of birders looking intently into a hawthorn. Luckily the ASIAN DESERT WARBLER was still present, and while it took a bit of time to get good views of, we were able to add it to our Northumberland and British lists. It gave a couple of brief bursts of distinctive, descending song before appearing to go to roost in a willow. We were both ecstatic (and somewhat relieved!) to have seen the bird but I hoped to get better views on Tuesday if it was still present...

It was another slightly misty morning on Tuesday, and the Asian Desert Warbler was still present and showing well. I spent several hours getting some great views as it moved around one particular pine tree, as well as making brief flights to nearby hawthorns and willows. It was an excellent twitch with the Warbler on view almost all of the time, as well as coming out into the open and singing regularly. A brilliant end to what was a bit of a difficult spring!

I also had a bit of time to walk around the rest of the island on Tuesday with the highlights including a couple of Spotted Flycatchers, reeling Grasshopper Warbler, Whimbrel and the usual spectacular display of orchids. The only negative was that the 1000+ Starlings I checked during the day didn't have a pink one with them, but I can't complain after such a memorable experience with one of the rarest birds I've seen in Northumberland!

Asian Desert Warbler!

Video best viewed in HD at 1080p

Spotted Flycatcher at The Lough

Grasshopper Warbler

Broad-bill and Red-spots...

With such a quiet spring, we were pretty looking forward to Saturday and the promising weather charts. There's really only one place we go when the conditions look like they did - Holy Island.

We arrived on the island for around 7am, and started at Chare Ends. It was immediately apparent that the fall of common migrants we'd hoped for had not taken place, and in fact, we didn't see a single migrant for our first hour and a half on the island!

Things picked up when we got word of a Bluethroat at the Excavations. We were nearby so headed straight there. When we reached the area, the bird had gone to ground, but after a bit of searching, the male Red-spotted Bluethroat reappeared and showed nicely if briefly.

We continued on and made our way towards the Lough, picking up a Cuckoo and Spotted Flycatcher on the way. On reaching the bushes, a smart male Pied Flycatcher was sat on the fence along with a Redstart. Two showy Lesser Whitethroats were in the bushes by the hide.

The Crooked and Straight Lonnens provided a further Redstart, Pied Flycatcher and a couple of male Whinchats. It felt like there was more to be found so (unusually for us) we decided to stay on the island over the high tide and this proved to be a good decision!

Next, we decided to head to Snipe Point where another male Red-spotted Bluethroat had been found. This bird proved much more cooperative, giving superb views as it sang from a dead log on the beach and nearby dunes.

Just after we left this bird, we saw a message from RA about a Broad-billed Sandpiper he'd found on the north shore near the Snook. This is a bit of bogey bird for me having missed them at Druridge, Teesside and North Yorkshire so I got there as quickly as possible.

Having survived the 800 metre run across the sand, we arrived just in time to look through the finder's scope at the Broad-billed Sandpiper before all the waders started to move around with the incoming tide, and the Sandpiper disappeared. Over the next two and a half hours, it was looking unlikely that we would get any better views, but out of nowhere it appeared right in front of the three of us still scanning. We were treated to excellent and prolonged views down to just 15 metres at times  (it was so close we could identify it by the naked eye!!) before it took off and flew north, and it is yet to be seen again. A stunning end to an excellent day!

Broad-billed Sandpiper - video should be viewed in HD at 1080p

Red-spotted Bluethroat - stunning male at Snipe Point

Red-spotted Bluethroat - the other male at the Excavations. Notice the white streaking behind its left eye and much more intense orange breast band compared to the Excavations bird. 

Pied Flycatcher

Lesser Whitethroat

Whinchat - male.

Sanderling

Just a quick note, my A-levels are rapidly approaching so my blog updates may be a bit sparse over the next month or so. I do have plenty of photos from this spring to go through over the summer, which will appear on here at some point. These include more from Fuerteventura, Black-necked Grebes and butterflies from Yorkshire...

Images from Bardsey...

A huge thanks to Bardsey Bird Observatory who hosted their annual Young Birder's Trip last week, and which I was fortunate to attend. We had a great week on the island, and can't wait to return. A bit short of time, I haven't been able to write much about the week, but here's a selection of photos from the island...

Chough

Spotted Flycatcher

Wheatears - adult and juveniles.

Marsh Harrier - juvenile.

Fulmar

Grey Seals

There were plenty of Willow Warblers around, as well as smaller numbers of Chiffchaffs.

Raven

Manx Shearwaters - adult and chick, as well as a recording of the calls of some of the adults below...

Storm Petrels ringed overnight

Juvenile Herring Gull in front of the Welsh mainland

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Grayling Butterflies

Small Copper

Autumn Lady's Tresses Orchid

Personally, my highlight of the week were the daily sightings of Risso's Dolphins, including a great display at sunset on the 6th. The above video really fails to do that display justice but it was the best I could get! Please view the video in HD at 1080p.

The Milky Way over the south end. Not the best photo!