I started the ATV and we raced back down to Capel, parked, leapt off and vaulted the wall that led to the small stream valley were Karen still sat. I looked up to see a figure pounding over the field towards me, eyes wide, hair streaming it was Darren, who arrived almost incoherent with excitement: “We think we’ve found a reet good bird!” were his historic words. In the field above I saw Ian Bullock, the RSPB Warden, fixing a sheep fince, and ran the length of the field to tell him the news. Leaving Karen to guard the bird, I ran off to find someone else. A name came into my head: Yellow-rumped Warbler.Īt this point I must have leapt briefly into the air myself, then trying to compose myself, I realised I must let others know. Clean white “spectables”, a blue-grey smudge on the shoulder, double white wing-bars and vivid lemon yellow patches on the sides of the breast.Ī North American warbler – it must be! Then it leapt briefly into the air, showing again the prominent white outer ovals in a black tail and a bright lemon-yellow rump. His clean white belly with thick black streaks was itself unusual, but as Karen and I watched, more unuausl features became slear. The head was a warm brown, the back a warm sepia brown with regular streaking and with a paler greyish neck “scarf”. Mind racing, I realised I was looking at something way out of the ordinary.įirst impressions were of a brown streaky bird about the size of a Great Tit,with black tertials and tail, black legs and a short, sharp black bill. “Flipping heck” (or something unprintable!) were the first words to escape my lips as realised that this was no Great Tit. Presuming it to be a Great Tit from the white on its tail, I raised my binoculars for a better look. It was still blowing well from the west, and just as we reached the sheltered cover of Ogof Capel, a small bird flew up 10 feet from us and landed again with 15 feet.
On Monday 31st, Karen Dobbs and I were walking up the east side of the island looking for migrants. Over the course of October 30th 1994, a deep depression passed off the west coast bringing westerly winds Force 6 to Ramsey Island. Dendroica coronata – Telor Tinfelen – Vagrant