After sustaining a knee injury last Wednesday and not being able to walk as I got out of bed on Thursday morning. I suppose I really hoped that no really rare birds would turn up, I was wrong! A Green Warbler had been caught and rung in the Heligoland trap at Buckton near Bempton, Yorkshire. Only 6 previous records of this species had been recorded in Britain before, which made it a very rare bird indeed. News of the bird broke around 2pm and after trying to work out if it was possible for me to walk the distance to see the bird, myself and Kevin C, said Let`s see if its there tomorrow We sort of thought that the bird would depart overnight anyway.
On Friday morning there was positive news that the bird was still in the same area as the day before but was very elusive, makes sense small green bird in amongst green leafed trees! Myself and Kevin C set off along the M62/ A roads and encountered usual amounts of various types of traffic, wagons, buses, pushbikes, caravans, and our late start could not be helped though. Being unable to find a walking stick, I brought along an umbrella which would have to do! As we arrived the news that the bird was still present greeted us. Now for the hard bit, progress was very slow as we both set off until my sore knee warmed up a bit. Kevin C kindly stayed with me and cajoled me to keep going to see the bird. At last we got to the assembled crowd of around 120 birders, we found a great spot to look for the bird. A quick shout had us looking into the copse with the Heligoland trap in it near a Crab apple tree, but the warbler was not properly seen. Pied Flycatcher and a couple of Willow Warblers later was all we saw in about an hours wait, a circling Sparrowhawk also did not help. Then finally the Green Warbler showed itself, firstly perched in a Rowan tree with lots of berries on, then it sat out near a Crab Apple tree and the major features were seen. What a stunning bird to be able to watch in lovely sunshine, it was strikingly green upper bodied in colour and the pale yellowy underparts, especially the chest area was very noticeable. The bird had a pale supercilium and a noticeable wing bar, it was a first winter bird that should have been on its way to warmer climes in Asia. As time pressed on I decided to set off back to the carpark and made a few stops to admire the Gannets still on the cliffs and utilise the various benches to rest upon! Kevin C kindly shared his food & drink with me and we set off for home. What a superb bird to go and see near one of the RSPB`s premier reserves.
