Not everything is in Black-and-White

October 2019

As September drew to a close after being relatively uneventful apart from a few American Waders, I was itching for a twitch. Late on the 29^th September, a Black Tern was relocated at Spanish Arch beside Nimmo’s Pier, Co. Galway after a non-birder photographed it the previous day. Many Galway birders were on site quickly including Cathal Forkan, Niall T Keogh etc. and these were able to nail the identification as American Black Tern and the shots that followed were gripping, to say the least. As I was in work when the news broke it was difficult to start planning any sort of twitch but I knew I’d try for it.

The next morning and I was almost in Dublin for college when Dermot Breen posted in the WhatsApp group that there had been so sign all morning. This put me off trying and I continued on to college. There was no further news on it, that was until Hugh Delaney relocated it just before 15:00 pm. On hearing this I ran out mid-lecture to the Euro Giant shop outside the college and bought a tiny lilac coloured umbrella and sprinted down O’Connell street in the lashing rain only stopping in Carroll’s where I bought a poncho, however, I was already soaked to the skin. I’m sure I looked some sight!

I made the bus by about 5 minutes and bought my return ticket. I was due to arrive at New Coach Station at 18:15. I was relying on the bird being on show immediately. Incredibly gripping footage came through from Niall Keogh who was having crippling views of it, to say the least. He kept me updated for most of the bus journey. We arrived just after 18:20. I managed to be off the bus first. I now had my binoculars over my poncho and I legged it! Sprinting down Shop Street looking like an absolute lunatic but I didn’t care… I was fighting the light and needed to get to Nimmo’s as soon as possible. Eventually, I could make out the Corrib River and with the naked eye could see a silhouette of a Tern! Cathal Forkan, Niall Keogh and Tom Cuffe were on site so I continued running up to get closer, stopping once to look at the Tern through the bins! As I approached the lads Niall took the opportunity to video the maddest looking man in Galway.

We were now in the perfect position to see the American Black Tern well. It continued to fly up and down the Corrib River in large circles but I didn’t have to wait long before it came too close for binoculars! It flew like a Leach’s Petrel over the scum line right below us. My camera was unable to focus on it with the rain and rapidly fading light and I ended up getting decent record shots with my phone camera. At times it showed down to one metre! That is no exaggeration either, I could have thrown my coat over it.

I managed to note several features on the bird. The dusky grey flanks were impossible to miss and would make it relatively easy to pick out and confidently identify on a sea watch. The grey flanks ran from the dark shoulder patch down to the trailing edge of the wing. The lack of contrast between the dark brown/grey ‘bikers’ helmet’ cap and the mantle and scapulars were obvious on this bird as well, another good feature of American Black Tern. It almost reminded me more of a White-winged Black Tern as opposed to Black Tern. It was nice to note some finer features that overlap between C. n. surinamensis and C. niger which can be tricky to pick up when watching Black Terns at sea such as the contrasting neat black lesser coverts. The dark tail contrasted with the paler rump and upper tail coverts also which was nice to see on this fresh juvenile Tern. After having 30 minutes of point-blank views of the Tern it decided to slowly wander down the Corrib River and hang around Nimmo’s Pier for a couple of minutes before finally disappearing towards Galway Bay at 19:05. An amazing twitch! At this, we had the great idea to go for a few pints in a small pub in Galway City, Tigh Neachtain. Niall recommended it as it had an open fire which we needed after being soaked to the core but most importantly it also did lovely pints. I arranged to stay on the sofa at my friend’s house who goes to college in Galway. Knowing I didn’t have to be racing back to get a return bus to Dublin, I could relax and enjoy the craic with Cathal and Niall. 

Figure 1: American Black Tern, Spanish Arch, Co. Galway.

The next morning… October 1st, I didn’t leave the house until about 8 am and walked the 45 minutes back to Nimmo’s for another look. Unfortunately, there was no sign. I wasn’t disappointed however as I was more than happy with the views, I had the previous evening. As there was no pressure on me to see the bird again, I made my way back to the New Coach Station for the 11:30 bus and made it back to Dublin just in time for my second lecture! The 8^th for Ireland and the third in a little over a year. Now for the split…

October started with reports of Storm Lorenzo forming in the middle of the Atlantic before swinging up and crashing into the west coast of Ireland. There was a strong blow coming off Newfoundland heading towards ‘Lorenzo’ which was bound to carry yank passerines. A lot of Irish birders were getting very excited about the prospect of a tiny American flit making it across the Atlantic and arriving on our shores, myself included. The French started the month with a bang with both Ovenbird and Blackburnian Warbler being found. Corvo was next to strike gold, with a first for the Western Palearctic in the form of a Prothonotary Warbler. Conor Foley, Donal Foley and I cancelled our annual trip to Mizen in order to be well placed to twitch and head to Mizen later in the month instead.

On October 5^th, Gerard Murray, Peter Phillips, John Cusack, Tom McEntee and myself planned to head down to the Old Head of Kinsale for a day’s birding in hope of an American vagrant. John collected me shortly after 3:00 am and we headed south collecting the lads on the way. We decided to stop for a coffee in the service station along the M8 at Cashel just after 6:00 am. At 6:17 am a notification popped up on my phone that made me absolutely speechless! Victor Caschera posted “MEGA RED ALERT Anthony McGeehan had a Black-and-White Warbler on Inishbofin, Co. Galway yesterday evening” I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking reading the message out to the lads. Black-and-White Warbler really is the stuff of dreams. Just picturing one creeping up and down the trunk of a tree, behaving like a Treecreeper on a remote Galway island nearly made me froth at the mouth! In the next few minutes, we were on the road for Galway. We needed to be at Cleggan for the boat out to ‘bofin’ at 11:30 which gave us plenty of time. Half of the Irish birding community seemed to be awake at 6:30 am. I sent Anthony an email asking for any gen on the bird and he replied within minutes. He would meet us at the boat and keep us updated.

We arrived in Cleggan at about 10:00 and were the first twitchers waiting for the boat. The Foleys and Mark Stewart were next to arrive. About 30 minutes before the boat was due to sail, negative news filtered through the birders on site. Crap. Anthony, however, could only check for under an hour so there was still hope. Everyone was still keen to get onto the island, that was until another WhatsApp message came through. At 10:56 am Josh Jones posted “Baltimore Oriole. West end of Achill Island, in the garden at Corrymore House but very elusive. Michael O’ Briain & Josh Jones” This was agonising news. So much was flying through my head at this moment. Firstly, there was no sign of the Black-and-White Warbler in a short search early morning and secondly, there was another mega yank two hours up the road on the mainland. However, the Black-and-White Warbler was the first since 1984 and only the third record, whereas the Baltimore Oriole was only the fourth but all since 2001. That being said I was in favour of trying for the Oriole but I was the only one in favour of this. There was another boat to Inishbofin at 14:00. My thinking was to head to Achill and if the Black-and-White Warbler was re-found we could always turn around and try to get onto the island for it then. Instead, plans were made to try for the Black-and-White Warbler getting the 11:30 boat and to try for the Oriole the next day.

So, onto the boat, we went. I hate being on islands in peak migration, once you’re on the island you’re trapped, just like the lads on Cape were, where a twitch wasn’t possible. At the start of the autumn, I decided I wasn’t going to twitch three species which I needed, Barred Warbler, Melodious Warbler and Short-toed Lark. I decided this as I was fairly sure I’d stumble across one or be nearby when one of these is found. We had only left the harbour when news came through that Anthony found a Barred Warbler when looking for the Black-and-White Warbler. Great news, at least it was looking like I wasn’t going to come away empty-handed. As promised, Anthony met us at the harbour. The other 30 twitchers, Anthony and myself made our way to the other end of the island to look for the Black-and-White Warbler. The walk took about 25 minutes. Anthony explained to us how he found the bird the previous evening, gripping, to say the least. 

Figure 2: Barred Warbler, Inishbofin, Co. Galway.

We arrived where the bird had been seen last, and I almost immediately saw the Barred Warbler! Irish tick 316. Looking around I could see the very unamused faces of many of Ireland’s top listers who hadn’t travelled hundreds of miles and got a boat to a remote island to look at a Barred Warbler. I was only getting blip views of the Barred Warbler. I felt that with thirty lads crowded around the small area of cover it was buried in, it wasn’t looking like I was going to get good views any time soon. Thankfully the bird broke cover briefly and flew to a nearby garden before returning to the original cover shortly after which gave John and Tom their first views of it, an Irish tick for them also. Time passed and everyone spread out to look for the Black-and-White Warbler. There were more than enough eyes on the island to re-find it if it was still present. At one stage I was the only one in the original site so I sat on a low horizontal branch, stayed dead silent and waited. Before long I picked up a large clumpy Warbler moving through the tops of the willows, coming towards me. Barred Warbler. It showed very well when it wasn’t partially obscured by the vegetation. As I was almost always looking up at the bird the dark markings on the undertail coverts and the barring on the flanks were almost always visible. A few times it sat out long enough to get everything on it including the peaked head, dark eye, obviously pale fringed tertials, the buffy underparts and the grey upperparts. John Cusack, Tom McEntee and Sean McCann joined me in hope for similar views and they were not disappointed. The bird seemed to have a regular circuit as it worked its way through the tops of the trees only feet above our heads. Photography was tricky though through the cover but I managed one or two images that came out decent enough. We watched the bird for a further hour. A Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff were the only other birds in this area of cover. As we slowly headed back to the harbour John picked up a Yellow-browed Warbler, it transpired that Peter Phillips and the Cork lads had had it earlier in the day.

We met Dennis O’ Sullivan and Paul Moore who had just had a hoodwink! It flushed from a weedy garden circled over their heads before flying over the mountain and was lost. No calls were heard but the lads felt Tanager was a probability. One that got away. At this stage amazing images filtered through of the Achill Baltimore Oriole which was extremely gripping especially considering everyone had come to the realisation that the Black-and-White Warbler had done a bunk overnight. We all arrived back for the evening ferry back to Cleggan. Despite having an Irish tick on the island, Barred Warbler is a long way off Black-and-White Warbler. We had dipped but we were happy the bird was not on the island. The first Black-and-White Warbler in 35 years and it wasn’t available to the masses. Gutting. Anthony’s rarity finders report followed in the coming days and just like he ended it I will too… Game over. 

Figure 3: The Monaghan and Louth lads having dipped on Inishbofin, Co. Galway. L-R Gerard Murray, John Cusack, Tom McEntee and Peter Phillips.

I was dropped home that night at about 23:00, got to bed at about 23:30 and set my alarm for 2:30. Another early start, this time for Achill. I was collected by Mark early on the 7^th October and we headed to Monaghan where we met John and Tom. We headed west, already exhausted from the day before. We had all known about a Nightjar up north frequenting the River Maine in Galgorm, Co. Antrim. Cathal Forkan private messaged me saying that it looked interesting and that Common Nighthawk shouldn’t be ruled out. James O’ Neill also posted on Facebook saying that he reckoned it was Common Nighthawk. Josh Jones then managed to find another video of the bird and was totally convinced it was a Common Nighthawk! Screenshots from the higher quality video followed and it looked very good. Before long, it was confirmed as the 3^rd for Ireland. To date, the ‘Nightjar’ had only been seen at dusk feeding for 20 minutes before disappearing. The previous night it had been seen from 18:55-19:15. This meant that we’d have to be leaving Achill at no later than 13:30 with or without the Baltimore Oriole. Stressful to say the least.

We collected Dylan Branagh in Castlebar and had a quick breakfast before continuing to Achill. We were all only back in the car when Seamus Feeney rang to say the Baltimore Oriole popped out for 10 seconds before skulking back into thick cover. We punched the air with delight, the bird stayed the night! Now we just needed to see it. We arrived about an hour after the first sighting. It was cold and breezy when we got out of the car. Dave Fox arrived right behind us. We put our wet gear and wellies on and jogged up to the garden. The bird hadn’t been seen since! Feck! A few Chiffchaffs started to move in the dense Fuchsia bank under the Escallonia trees, this is where Seamus had his views early morning. Time passed and I was getting a little worried. If we wanted the Baltimore Oriole and the Common Nighthawk, the Oriole would need to show soon. 10 am came and went, as did 11 am and nothing showed. I played some ‘encounter calls’ of Baltimore Oriole and instantly John Cusack picked it up at the top of one of the Escallonias, Dylan Branagh got on it too! Brief but they had it. Nobody else was quick enough to see it. I decided to walk around the back of the Fuchsia just in case it was showing back there. It wasn’t to be. Frustratingly I missed another very brief view which Dave Fox managed in flight. About 12:00 I saw it! A naked eye flight view for less than two seconds, I called it early which allowed one or two to glimpse it as it dropped back into cover. Extremely unsatisfactory but it was the bird. I got nothing on it apart from that it was the right size and colour. Crap tick. Just like that, it was gone again. Cathal Forkan, Eamonn McLaughlin and Niall Keogh arrived to spend the evening just as we needed to be heading off to make it to Antrim for dusk. I checked the back of the garden one last time, pished and out popped a vocal Yellow-browed Warbler which showed well. John and Dylan’s view of the Oriole despite being brief, they had it perched and I would have traded anything for it especially given the view I got. I left having seen the bird but feeling like I dipped.

Anyway, we hoped the star of the show was only a few hours away. At about 15:30 Seamus sent me excellent back of the camera shots of the Baltimore Oriole, it had shown again. It transpired that everyone on site had missed it and Seamus had wandered off to another part of the garden where it popped out for him briefly. I was gutted for Cathal and Niall. News came through at 16:00 that the Nighthawk had just hawked over the river for several minutes for British birder who made it over in record time! Shots followed but the bird had disappeared, presumably to go back to its day roosting. I was very optimistic. By this stage John had drove the guts of 20 hours since the previous day, I have no idea how he has done it but it took serious stamina!

We arrived on the bridge after a gruelling five-hour journey. We had our gear together in record time and walked towards the large group of twitchers spread out along the River Maine. There were exactly 40 twitchers on site. On an Irish scale, this was a huge twitch. You could cut the tension with a knife as the evening closed in. I waited anxiously with Conor and Donal Foley, Gerard Murray, Peter Phillips, John Cusack, Tom McEntee, Mark Stewart, Brian Porter, Richard Hunter and many others. Richard had seen the bird the previous evening and told us it started hunting at 18:55, it was now 18:56. I began to get fidgety wondering where the bird was. Did the bird leave after it showed late afternoon? Does it have another feeding site nearby that we were unaware of? We just had to wait and see. A Dipper flew upriver. The minutes that followed dragged and felt like an eternity. That was until at 18:59, Mark Stewart saved the day…” There it is, NIGHTHAWK” he roared. WOW!!! My jaw nearly hit the floor when it glided over the trees looking absolutely mega rare. Birders used every expletive under the sun as the Common Nighthawk gave utterly amazing views as it hawked insects behind us. Before long the Common Nighthawk started to feed low over the river only feet from us. It seemed to pay no attention to us as it caught insects for fun.

So why wasn’t this a Nightjar? The first thing I noticed was the forked tail and pointed wings, these stuck out like a sore thumb. The black primaries and narrow white trailing edge to the wing were obvious on the close flybys despite the fading light. The barring on the underparts reminded me of a juvenile Long-tailed Skua. This bird had a gleaming white throat patch, which made this bird an adult male! Remarkable really that it wasn’t a juvenile considering the time of year. With the light fading rapidly many resorted to naked eye views but the Swarovski binoculars pulled through and the views were incredible right until it disappeared at 19:20. We all turned to each other in pure disbelief at what had just happened. Arguably one of the maddest records of all time? We all slowly walked back to the car. I managed some video of the Common Nighthawk and I threw it up on Twitter where it became very popular as it gave a good representation of just how well it showed. We said our goodbyes to the lads and headed back to Monaghan with massive smiles on our faces. Common Nighthawk on my Irish list, I never thought I’d see the day. We were back in Monaghan at 22:00 and Mark dropped me home on his way to Drogheda. I was at home and in bed by 22:40 absolutely exhausted but couldn’t be happier. 

Figure 4: Common Nighthawk, Galgorm, Ballymena, Co. Antrim.

The next morning as I was sitting in a lecture and I saw a tweet where British birder Neill Hunt had unbelievably found the Nighthawk roosting on a log! Despite having crippling views the previous day, I somehow felt cheated. Top class images poured onto my timeline and Josh Jones went live on the Bird Guides displaying just how well it was showing. I sat in college gripped off. Horses flushed it and it flew into a tree and sat out in the open. Tom McEntee asked if I’d be interested in trying for it again that evening. I couldn’t resist and wanted to get back up for seconds. I raced home and Dad dropped me to Monaghan Town where we met Tom and headed back up to Galgorm. On the way up news came through of an Irish first in Kerry… Least Bittern. Sadly, however, it had died only thirty minutes after it was discovered. Heartbreaking. Images were posted online showing its tiny size. We arrived at Galgorm and the two of us jogged to the roosting site as we heard it was getting a bit restless as it was after 18:00. We needn’t have worried as the bird gave itself up as it sat on the same branch all day. It was really nice to see it perched and even better to get the scope on it to see the finer details. There was a fairly similar number of birders present as the previous evening with 38 in total including Gerry O’ Neill, Eamonn Larrissey, Seamus Feeney, Phil Clancy, Jim Creamer and Stephen King. The Nighthawk left its roost after short preen and stretch at 18:45, 15 minutes earlier than the previous evening. The performance it gave was probably better than the previous evening. As it flew up and down the river it sometimes flew very low over us and hawked over the field behind us. One of these times however it seemed to cut it too fine and almost flew straight into me. I ducked and could feel the wind from its wings brush against me. A very close call and an amazing experience. The bird disappeared at 19:15 and Tom and myself headed home, completely satisfied with our views over the last two evenings. 

Figure 5: Common Nighthawk twitch on October 8th. Bird just about visible roosting in the center of the photograph. 

I had known Mark was very interested in going back over to Achill for the Baltimore Oriole. Gerard Murray and Chris O’ Sullivan had both seen it well but briefly earlier in the day. That evening when I got home, Mark rang me to tell me that he’d be passing mine at 3:00 am, I couldn’t resist. The plan was to stand as far back from the Fuchsia bank as feasibly possible and stay completely quiet to give the bird as much chance as possible to come out of the thick cover.

Figure 6: Corrymore House, Achill Island, Co. Mayo with Fuchsia and Escallonias to the left.

Mark collected me and we were on the road for Achill. I felt we had a good chance of connecting as there was rain and strong westerly winds overnight, that bird was going nowhere. We arrived on-site at approximately 8:30 am after a brief stop for breakfast. The rain had cleared and the wind had died and now only showers were forecast for the rest of the day. I was ready at the van with my optics and rain gear in a matter of seconds so I slowly made my way to the garden expecting a very long day. As I walked up the garden was pure still with hardly a breeze. As I was walking, I noticed a movement on the top of the Escallonia. It appeared quite clumsy but I could make out nothing else. In a scramble, I took the covers off my binoculars and my heart started racing…Baltimore Oriole. I couldn’t believe it was that easy! I watched it for about 5 seconds before turning and signalling to Mark who started running. As I turned back, I got the bins back on it but only for a second or two before it flew in behind the Escallonia and just like that, it was gone again.

Figure 7: First-winter Baltimore Oriole. 4th for Ireland.

I was gutted for Mark. I had satisfying views but I still felt crap because I really wanted Mark to see it. Time passed but there was no further sign of the Oriole. There was quite a bit of activity in the Fuchsia with Chiffchaffs, Goldcrest and a heard only Yellow-browed Warbler. At 10:20 Mark very calmly whispered, “I have it, right of the pole just down from the top of the Escallonia”. I was on it again! Wow! On my original view that morning most of the body of the Oriole had been obscured but now I could see everything! Earlier in the morning I had set my scope up and focused it on this rough area, so now all I had to do was pan slowly to the right. Within seconds I was getting frame-filling views of the Baltimore Oriole through the scope. I quickly grabbed my phone and attached it to the eyepiece and just as I was about to take a shot it flicked back into the thick cover. It was almost perfect but not quite. My camera decided to pack in the previous day which meant the only way I could get shots was to phone scope. We both feared that could be last that we’d see of the Oriole but how wrong were we! Only a few minutes later it popped back out and sat motionless. Here I managed some fairly reasonable shots of it through the scope. We watched it for 6 minutes in total before it skulked back into the Fuchsia and out of sight. I managed to get a short video of it while it was showing also. Happy days! The white wing bars were extremely prominent as were the tertials which were bordered white, it was nearly like a large clumsy Blackpoll Warbler. The bright orange colour made it unmistakable.

We didn’t have to wait too long for it to pop back out and show just as well as before. It caught some large flies on a few occasions so was obviously feeding well. In total it showed for about 12 minutes out of the three hours we were on site. We left it at 12:00 completely satisfied with our views and now well and truly ticked. This is the fourth Irish record following on from the first at none other than Baltimore, Co. Cork in 2001, the second on Cape Clear, Co. Cork in 2006 and a one-day wonder on Tory Island, Co. Donegal in 2017. Josh Jones sent me on numerous pin drops to the best gardens and beaches on Achill so we spent a few hours birding these areas. Unfortunately, a small flock of Golden Plover was all we could dig out. At this, we headed off home. I was back home by 19:30 pm. Top twitch! 

On Friday the 11^th of October, John Cusack rang me at approximately 22:00 wondering what we should do the following day. There were good birds everywhere but none were new for me apart from a Melodious Warbler on Cape Clear, Co. Cork but it would be ludicrous twitching Cape for a Melodious. Other than that, the 5^th Baltimore Oriole for Ireland was found at Lehanmore, Co. Cork by Neal Warnock. Anyway, after much discussion, we came to the conclusion that John would collect me at 9:00 am and we would take our time heading south and if nothing was found we could always try for the Red-eyed Vireo on Helvick Head. John collected me just after 9:00 am and Tom, John, Vanessa and myself headed towards Waterford/Cork. John has his WhatsApp set up to his speaker so when anything is reported into the ‘Rare and Scarce Birding Ireland’ WhatsApp group it is read out in a robotic voice. As we crossed the Broadmeadows Estuary on the M1, the following message was read out at 10:11 am “Yellow-rumped Warbler, Kilmurvey House, Inishmore, Galway” Brilliant! Twitch on! Aonghus O’ Donaill had found it and we were perfectly placed. We headed for Doolin while Ferry times were checked. There was a 14:30 ferry from Doolin to Inishmore which we would make comfortably. News came through that Danny Ballard had found an Olive-backed Pipit on Mizen Head but after showing for only two minutes it flew off strongly and was never seen again so we continued on to County Clare sorting out a B&B on the way.

We arrived with plenty of time to spare. Cathal Forkan sent me a brilliant back of the camera shot which had us itching to get onto the island. Only ten minutes before the boat docked, negative news came through from Mick Boyle! I was still anxious to get out to the island and after a brief discussion, we decided to continue with our plan and try for it. Paul Troake met us who was staying on the island for a few days. As we were stepping onto the boat Paul got a text that the bird was back in the original location! On the boat over a Great-northern Diver and a Black Guillemot were the only birds of note. We organised a taxi to drop us to the B&B as we had to be checked in by 18:30 and then continue on to Kilmurvey House. All was plain sailing until the taxi man asked us for 100 euro for this short return fare! Pat Hernon from Aran Celtic Tours was his name… robbing b*stard. 5 or 10 euro was apparently the going rate.

Figure 8: Myrtle Warbler, Kilmurvey, Inishmore, Co. Galway.

We hopped out of the taxi and met Aonghus who said there had been no sign since 15:10 and it was now 16:40. Crap buzz. We spread out and started pishing. A Willow Warbler popped out but no ‘Dendroica’ Warblers. Apparently, the bird had been extremely active all day, feeding and calling non-stop. The bird had probably gone to roost now and we were all feeling very sorry for ourselves. However up stepped John Cusack to save the day. At 17:40 John shouted, “there it is top of the tree” I was on it instantly! The other lads one by one picked it up as it flitted through the trees. What a wee cracker! It eventually flew towards us and dived into some Ivy. It started calling which made it quite easy to follow. A couple of minutes later it flew into a distant Sycamore so we legged it after it. Sure, enough when we arrived at the Sycamore, it gave brilliant views. We played a bit of tape when it would move to the back of the tree, which it was extremely responsive too. A few times over the hour or so that we watched it, it perched out in the open only feet from us. Crazy to think something like a Myrtle Warbler can make it across the Atlantic. John Cusack, Tom McEntee, Vanessa Dunn, Mick Boyle, Aonghus O’ Donaill (finder), Hugh Delaney, Sean McCann and myself were all on-site at this stage. Aonghus wandered off and found a White-rumped Sandpiper on the beach. Only Sean and I stayed on to watch the Myrtle as the rest went to year tick the Sandpiper. Sean and I managed some lovely looks at the yellow rump. I also managed to get it in the scope a few times. The yellow rump and pale throat rule out any other North American Wood Warblers. This individual was quite a drab first-winter. The wing-bars and yellow side patch were prominent. It was really nice to hear the metallic-like call it gave. Funnily enough, it somewhat reminded me of the bill snapping which the American Yellow Warbler gave on Mizen Head on 21^st August 2017. Sean and myself watched as the bird got a bit restless and flew across the road before becoming silent, presumably to roost. At 18:45 the two of us strolled down to have a look at the White-rumped Sandpiper but unfortunately, it had disappeared. We looked until 19:15 when the taxi returned to take us back to Kilronan. Hugh and John had words with the taxi man who admitted that he completely fleeced us and begrudgingly threw us back 20 euro. Most of us arrived at the American Bar that night for food and a few pints of Guinness. 

 I rang Donal Foley who had planned to arrive on the next morning with Conor. I told him that Paul Troake would be on site from early and I would give them news when I got it. The next morning after a full Irish breakfast, Aonghus rang to say that the/another Myrtle Warbler was found by Hugh Delaney in Kilronan Wood which is 6 miles from Kilmurvey! We were on-site in minutes and there it was! I managed only one shot of it as it was quite elusive but it was enough to confirm that it was a new bird with much heavier flank patterning than the previous day's bird. Happy days! The 18^th and 19^th for Ireland and the 6^th for Inishmore. I rang Conor Foley and told him that Paul was dipping on the Kilmurvey bird but that there was a new Myrtle Warbler in Kilronan. The Foleys and Paul Keogh arrived into the harbour as we were leaving at 11:30 and managed to connect with it after a nervy few hours of no sign. An Irish tick for Donal and Paul. 

 On the way home Eamonn Larrisey found a Long-billed Dowitcher at the Dundalk Docks, Co. Louth which we said we would try for. As we were arriving into Dundalk the White-winged Black Tern, also found by Eamonn showed up again at Lurgangreen. We arrived at the Dundalk Docks and sure enough, I picked the Dowitcher up almost instantly as it loosely associated with some Redshank. It showed fairly well but was always a little bit distant out on the mud. This was presumably the same bird that Tom Cooney picked up at Rockmarshall in September. Mark Stewart arrived and managed fairly decent views of it too. We only watched it for about 10 or 15 minutes before we headed to Lurgangreen in search of the Tern.

 When we arrived Gerry O’Neill and Enda Flynn were dipping along the path to the south of Lurgangreen. After only a couple of minutes, John who was on a roll of picking up everything first picked it up along the channel. I jogged down to the lads and had amazing views down to a couple of feet. The first record of White-winged Black Tern in Louth since the one I managed to find in August 2013 at Cruisetown. This was now the 3^rd county record involving four birds (two together at Cruisetown in July 1998). After getting a few record shots we headed home. I was dropped home and could barely keep my eyes open! An exhausting few days but three mega yanks and four Irish ticks for our efforts. Credit to John for the ridiculous amount of driving. Well over 3000km in 6 days! 

Figure 9: Take a bow John Cusack!

 A couple of days later, on the 19^th of October, Peter Phillips, Tom McEntee, John Cusack and myself headed to Tory Island, Co. Donegal for our first day trip of the autumn. After being out at Tom’s 30^th birthday party the previous night, I crawled home not long before 4 am and set my alarm for 5:50 am. When my alarm went off, I wanted nothing more than to hit it off but part of me was looking forward to the chance to bird Tory again. Tory Island has been very kind to me since I started birding there just over two years ago. Apart from a bad dip on the spring Baltimore Oriole in May 2017 which was days before my Leaving Cert, I have seen some good birds there. Eastern Subalpine Warbler, White-billed Diver, Tree Pipit, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat etc to name but a few.

I was feeling optimistic when Peter rang to say he was outside. We collected John and Tom in Monaghan and headed to Magheroarty Harbour for the 10:00 boat. As we arrived, we were greeted with howling easterlies and choppy seas. Light rain overnight was sure to have dropped a few birds. Despite the fact I don’t get sea-sick I think the combination of the pints from the previous night and the lack of sleep meant I was feeling pretty crappy on the crossing. The usual couple of Eider were present in at the harbour in Magheroarty. Thankfully though I managed to keep in my breakfast roll instead of giving the seabirds a handy late morning meal. The boat crossing produced nothing more than a handful of Greylag Geese, Barnacle Geese and a half-decent sized flock of Tufted Duck, all flying towards the mainland. When we docked into the harbour on Tory Island, Victor Caschera text to say he had a male Ring Ouzel up at the west end of the island but had no sign since the first sighting. Having only seen a drab first-winter female on Cape Clear, Co. Cork a few years back, I wouldn’t have minded seeing this one. John and Tom headed west while myself and Peter birded around the harbour before heading east. The Lesser Whitethroat that Anton Meenan found a few days previous was still in his West End garden. It was very elusive but I managed a few brief but good views by standing up on the wall at the back of his shed and looking down into the cover. it appeared quite brown on the nape and if I had to say what I thought of it I would say it was a Siberian or ‘blythi’ type. Jim Dowdall and Vic arrived so I chatted to them for a few moments before going off to catch up with Peter who had just had a Yellow-browed Warbler in Eamonn’s Garden. 

Figure 10: Snow Bunting of the race 'nivalis' on Tory Island, Co. Donegal

As I was walking up the east end road, I heard a few calls coming from high up. They were coming from either Lapland Bunting or Snow Buntings. I couldn’t see where the calls were coming from but eventually, I picked up four Snow Buntings fly in from the direction of the harbour and they appeared to land somewhere up by the ‘dump’. Peter, Jim and Vic helped with a brief search for them but there was no further sign. We continued to the east end garden but apart from literally thousands of Redwings dropping from the sky, I managed no more scarce birds. A quick check of a Whatsapp notification made me absolutely kick myself. Killian Mullarney replied to a video Gerry O’ Neill shared from Fergal Stanley. He posted “Gerry… I’d be going to have a closer look at that Dowitcher if I was you”. I was raging. I thought a few times on the previous Sunday that I glimpsed some notching on the tertials and I mentioned it to a few but I thought nothing more of it. It was quite obvious from the better shots that it was also a first-winter and not an adult as first suspected. The reason I was beating myself up over it was that I should have stayed with the bird until I had no doubt about the identification but I didn’t! Most people would have been punching the air with joy knowing that they’ve now seen a Short-billed Dowitcher but I was devastated. I knew I couldn’t tick it despite Killian saying it was my underwing shots that clinched it. I walked back to the harbour, looking at my feet, absolutely distraught. Peter relocated the Snow Buntings which showed extremely well. John and Tom found a Lapland Bunting also. The tallies for the day were Ring Ouzel and Black Redstart (VC, JFD), Lapland Bunting, Snow Bunting, Yellow-browed Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat. Not a bad day but I went home feeling like I had just dipped on a huge rarity. The next day would be spent looking for the Dowitcher at the Dundalk Docks.

John arranged to collect me at 10:30 the next morning. High tide wasn’t until about 16:30 which meant we were in no rush. We had known Gerard Murray was already on site looking for the Dowitcher from 9:00 am. We arrived at the Dundalk Docks shortly after 11:00 am and began scanning. Almost 40 birders were lined up in front of the Spirit Store. The Short-billed Dowitcher had somewhat played ball for all birders during the week when it was being watched as a ‘Long-billed’ but I had a bad feeling it was going to be difficult today. Very few birds were feeding on the mud which was a little bit surprising for this time of year. Time dragged in the freezing cold conditions as we all waited anxiously. I don’t think anybody on site wanted to see that bird more than me because as the time went on, I started to feel a little bit guilty that I didn’t positively identify the Dowitcher the previous week. Realising that it was a bit pointless that all of us were standing around twiddling our thumbs waiting for the Dowitcher to drop in, I decided to walk up to the bridge and scan the western side of the Castletown River. There was much more activity here, I counted six Ruff and quite decent sized flocks of other waders but definitely no Short-billed Dowitcher. Returning to the docks just in time to get onto a Marsh Harrier which Eamonn Larrissey picked up. A good county tick for myself. As the hours ticked by it really wasn’t looking good. We were dipping and there was nothing we could do. The 40 strong crowd began to dwindle as the tide came in fully before retreating just before dusk. A large flock of Golden Plover and a single Ruff were the only birds we had to look at as the evening dragged to a close. That evening I ticked Short-billed Dowitcher before taking it off my list a few hours later out of guilt! I was really hoping it would be still around otherwise I would have to get the next one. The next few days would be spent birding Mizen Head.

Figure 11: Pacific Diver, Crookhaven, Co. Cork.

That evening I got dropped home by John at 20:00 pm and I was only in the door when dad dropped me to Ashbourne, Co. Meath to Conor Foley's house where I stayed before getting up at 4:00 am. I was absolutely shattered when the alarm went off after having no more than three hours of sleep. In a way, I was looking forward to the autumn slowing down so I could catch up on some much-needed sleep. We collected Donal and headed for Cork. I must have slept in the back of the car until we hit Cork so I was full of energy when we hit Crookhaven, unlike the other poor lads! The first bit of birding was done around Crookhaven Harbour where we tried to locate the returning Pacific Diver which frequents the area outside O’ Sullivan’s Pub. With the seas absolutely flat calm, it only took a couple of minutes to realize that the bird wasn’t here. At this, we headed over towards the tennis courts. I walked up the hill to get a better vantage point whereas Conor and Donal walked along the coastal track. I had only got halfway up the hill when Conor rang to say the Diver was showing. I quickly jogged down to the lads and there it was! It was so close you could tell it was a Pacific Diver with the naked eye. It kept very close company with a Great-northern Diver. I managed several decent phone-scoped shots of it as it loafed about off Rock Island. It then started to feed and gradually became more distant, so we left it. The first scarce find of the trip for us was a Yellow-browed Warbler which was calling behind us. I managed a few very brief views of it before we headed off for one of my favourite birding locations in Ireland…Lissagriffin. 

Figure 12: Self-found White-rumped Sandpiper, Lissagriffin, Co. Cork.

A Lesser Yellowlegs which was found by Paul Moore had been hanging around the Lake for a few weeks so we tried to locate it before starting to bash the gardens. Conor parked on the causeway and we began scanning. I panned straight past three very distant ‘smalls’ and focused on the ‘shanks’ which were roosting along the reeds. I was happy the Lesser Yellowlegs wasn’t present in that area so panned back. I had just picked up the three ‘smalls’ again when they took flight. They were so distant I couldn’t make anything out on them so I kept watching, half-heartedly. They briefly came closer and as they did, they banked. Dunlin…Dunlin…White-rumped Sandpiper!!! Unfortunately, the three birds decided they weren’t going to play ball just like the Short-billed Dowitcher the previous day. I shouted to the lads that I had a White-rumped Sandpiper but that it was flying away from us and was getting quite high. Not good. After almost losing them as a spec in the sky they double backed and flew right over our heads. The lads picked up the glaring white rump as it spun around in the air for some time before finally dropping down to the exact same location I had it originally.

Figure 13: Dusk at Lissagriffin Lake, Co. Cork.

We quickly put on our wellies and marched out into d’griff. The very first time I walked through Lissagriffin, the three of us found a Red-throated Pipit which hung around for nearly a week! So, it brings back good memories. I was anxious to get a few shots of the bird in case it flew off again. Poor images were taken through the scope but we were still quite some distance from the bird. We continued to edge closer to the bird, which ended up being fairly tame. I probably got within 40 feet of it as it fed happily with the two Dunlin. Through the scope, it was nice to see some of the rufous edges to the scapulars. A lovely first-winter bird. I slowly backed off after I managed better shots and headed for the car where the lads had already started walking. My fourth rare find of the year. As I was slowly walking back, Conor rang to say that they had found a Carrion Crow. I quickened my pace and sure enough, as I approached the lads the Carrion Crow was sat with a Hooded Crow in the grassy field just up from the marsh at Lissagriffin. It flew towards Barely Cove only 20 seconds after I got onto it.

The rest of the day was spent birding the main Mizen gardens. Another Yellow-browed Warbler was in the Main Garden which showed well. Our best passerine of the day, however, was a stunning Firecrest which showed well in the Orchard. Gerard Murray managed to dig out the Short-billed Dowitcher to the east of the Dundalk Docks, along the Navvy Bank. Gripping, but well deserved by Ger. He certainly put the hours into re-find it. The icing on the cake for this brilliant day’s birding was when Pete Wolstenholme rang to say that the Lesser Yellowlegs was back on the Lake. We were back on site within minutes and Conor picked it up almost immediately. It showed distantly. The White-rumped Sandpiper was only two or three scope widths away from the Lesser Yellowlegs. Mizen Magic. As the light faded, we headed off to look for accommodation. We eventually found a place to stay in the Heron’s Cove B&B and we finished the evening in the Bunratty Inn with a massive feed of Chicken Curry and Chips which was washed down with a pint of Murphy’s. The three of us were sound asleep just after 21:00 pm. Shattered.

Breakfast wasn’t until 9:00 so we managed almost 11 hours sleep. This was well needed as we were like zombies the previous day. A full Irish breakfast was the perfect way to start the day. A quick sea-watch produced a couple of Sooty Shearwaters and a Pomarine Skua which I missed, unfortunately. The gardens were dead. The same Yellow-browed Warbler was the only bird of note along the main lighthouse road. Chris O’ Sullivan was down for the day who went off to bird around Three Castles. We headed around to Joe’s Garden at Caher East where Conor found a sandy looking Lesser Whitethroat which showed white on the outer tail and gave plenty of ‘tack’ calls. I’d be fairly sure it was another Siberian or ‘blythi’ Lesser Whitethroat. It showed well with a male Blackcap which was one of two in the area. With heavy rain coming in overnight and with the next day being un-birdable we planned to head home after it got dark. The Short-billed Dowitcher had been seen again earlier in the day which I really wanted to see. Dave Fox who had came down to Baltimore in hope that the possible Marsh Tit would be clinched ended up on Mizen Head for the day after the lack of news coming from Cape Clear. Dave and a Dutch birder found a Common Redstart which Donal Foley refound at the tennis courts in Crookhaven. It was a great end to the trip and a good year tick for us. Other decent birds seen throughout the day included the Pacific Diver, and Lesser Yellowlegs again, however, there was no sign of the White-rumped Sandpiper all day. A very enjoyable few days on Mizen Head. 

Figure 14: Short-billed Dowitcher, Navvy Bank, Dundalk, Co. Louth.

I arrived back home at 1:15 am. I planned to head across to Dundalk around midday to look for the Short-billed Dowitcher again (23^rd October). I woke up around 10:00 am and the bird had been seen briefly by Fran O’ Connell but there had been no sign since. We decided to stick to our original plan and leave the house around 11:30. Seamus Feeney who had been searching for the Dowitcher all morning re-found it when we were only five minutes away! We tried to see could we find the lads in the ‘Mountain View’ estate just west of Soldier’s Point at the Sean O’ Mahony GAA pitches, however, there was nobody there. Stephen King sent me a Google Maps pin drop and we realised they were watching it from the next estate ‘Suil Na Mara’. This is approximately halfway between the pitches and Soldier’s Point. We arrived within a minute or two and the lads were watching it. I ran over to them and saw it through Brian Porter's scope. Pure relief! I ran back to the car and got my scope. Dad and I watched the bird for a few minutes before dad left to head into the town. Stephen King, Seamus Feeney, Gerry O’ Neill, Brian Porter etc. were all on-site. The Short-billed Dowitcher showed distantly before it flew west and was eventually picked up again. It was the closest wader on-site and was along the waters edge on the low tide. It gave brilliant views. The inner greater coverts and tertials had notching typical of Short-billed. The dark capped appearance, relatively short bill (unreliable, I know), the very pale breast band were all pro-Short-billed features. A couple of times I managed to see the barred underwing lesser coverts. A few of my images also appeared to show that the eye was not in line with the bill and seemed to be placed higher up which is again pro Short-billed. I grilled the bird looking for all the features and I ended up being totally satisfied with my views. Conor Foley, Donal Foley and Steve Miller all arrived and got good views. Finally, I could tick it properly! This is only the fourth record for Ireland following on from a juvenile at Tacumshin Lake, Co. Wexford in 1985. The second was a first-summer which was found on the Boyne Estuary, Co. Meath before touring a few other sites along the east coast in 2000. The third Irish record was another first summer which was found at Lady’s Island Lake, Co. Wexford and also toured a few sites up the east coast in 2004. Unfortunately for the last hour, I spent on the Navvy Bank the Short-billed Dowitcher didn’t show as it flew into a deep channel towards Soldier’s Point. It did return later to the original location to the relief of others.

Peter Phillips, Gerard Murray and I made plans to head for Tory Island on Friday 25^th October. Anton Meenan found a Short-toed Lark on Tory on Thursday 24^th October; however, this was after we made plans to go. Short-toed Lark was one of the species I said I wouldn’t twitch this autumn but I was looking forward to getting up to have a look for it. Victor Caschera, Tom Shevlin and Jim Dowdall found a Mealy Redpoll on Tory a few days previous which would also have been an Irish tick for me. It is recommended that Redpoll should be split into two species and not three, with the species being Common and Arctic Redpolls (Shirihai and Svensson, 2018). The current IOC taxonomy decision had them split with Lesser Redpoll too. The two lads collected me just after 6:00 am and again we heading north-west to Magheroarty Harbour where we met Paidi Cullinan. The boat trip across to Tory Island was fairly calm but also uneventful bird-wise. We docked into the harbour as usual around 11:00 am and I ran ahead up to the club where the Short-toed Lark had last been seen. The three lads said they would check the ‘Magic Bush’ (the location of Ireland’s only Collared Flycatcher which Peter managed to see) before looking for the Lark. I was unsure where to start looking for the Short-toed Lark but I assumed that the crop fields would be a good bet. As I was jogging towards the ‘roundabout’ just past the club a movement caught my eye no more than 5 feet away from me…Lapland Bunting. Before even raising my binoculars I slowly walked back to prevent startling the ‘Lapper’. It was soon obvious that there were two birds. Both identifiable without binoculars… Short-toed Lark! I got the ‘bins’ on them straight away and had amazing views. I took one shot before ringing Peter and the lads who were watching them within two minutes. An excellent start to the day. Both the Lapland Bunting and Short-toed Lark were inseparable. Occasionally the two would fly a short distance and it was always the Lapland Bunting which was leading the way with the Short-toed Lark tagging along behind. Calls were heard from both but the Lapland Bunting was far more vocal. After thirty minutes of point-blank views, Peter and Ger left to bird the rest of the island. My most enjoyable views were with Paidi when both birds sat on top of the same rock only centimetres away from each other. I got plenty of shots as the two birds preened. Twenty minutes later the Lapland Bunting took off calling with the Short-toed Lark in hot pursuit, at this we left them. Another great Irish tick.

Figure 15: Short-toed Lark and Lapland Bunting, Tory Island, Co. Donegal.

Figure 16: Mealy Redpoll 'flammea', Tory Island, Co. Donegal.

A quick look for Jack Snipe in the marsh proved fruitless. Quite a few ‘Icelandic’ Redwing were obviously fresh in. Sadly, one or two were found dead, which shows just how ruthless bird migration is. Peter rang to say he flushed what was probably the Mealy Redpoll in the West Town but after a quick search, it wasn’t in any of the locations Vic had sent me. We all met at the shop and decided what to do. I was anxious to get back to look for the Redpoll whereas the other lads wanted to head east. I returned to the houses in the West Town and I was feeling quite optimistic. After only a few minutes of looking, Ger rang to say that there was a Mealy Redpoll in Eamonn Meenan’s Garden. Eamonn’s garden was at least twenty minutes from where I was standing so I started running again! I was only running about two minutes when I noticed a taxi parked at the side of the road so I asked him to bring me the rest of the way which he did. We arrived and he refused to take any money for the journey! Far sounder than the taximan out on Inishmore! I jogged over to the lads and it had just been flushed by the helicopter making its return journey to the island. Crap! It had been feeding with a decent sized flock of Tree Sparrows and according to Eamonn was one of two in the garden, both which had been around for a few days. I stayed at the garden hoping it would drop back in. However, the minutes turned into an hour and only Tree Sparrows returned to the garden. Tree Sparrows came and went but no Mealy Redpoll. Paidi rang me to say he was watching a Redpoll on a wire in the East Town! So, I was off running again! However, I had barely gotten halfway when he rang back, it had flown, but it was possibly heading my way. This Mealy Redpoll was really giving me the run-around. As I was walking back, I heard a few ‘typical’ Redpoll calls over my head and picked up a silhouette flying west. I followed it in the ‘bins’ to see where it landed and it appeared to land back in the garden but I couldn’t be sure. I slowly approached the garden trying not to spook the Sparrows and I peered over the wall. I picked up the Mealy Redpoll instantly! I quickly made my way around to the side of the house and watched from the grassy bank. I got great views! It was feeding very actively and I managed a few shots. I tried to note everything on the bird. The rump was strikingly pale with only a few dark flecks through it. A few dark markings were on the undertail coverts ruling out Coue’s or Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll. The wing bars were white with the tiniest hint of buff at the base of the wingbar. It was quite a large bird but the rosy breast and lack of five dark streaks on the flanks ruled out ‘rostrata’. The bill was also chunkier than I would expect on a Lesser Redpoll ‘cabaret’. After watching the Mealy Redpoll for only about five minutes, the Tree Sparrows were spooked and flew east with the Redpoll tagging behind. A two-tick day!

I decided against heading east as the lads were already out that way and a first-winter Iceland Gull on the lake was the best they had. I strolled back west to look for the Short-toed Lark and the Twite that Anton had found the previous day. I zig-zagged through quite a lot of fields on my way back hoping to flush that sought-after Pechora Pipit, but it wasn’t to be. It took ages to relocate the Lark and Lapland Bunting but I picked them up halfway down a Wheatfield near the Club and again they showed well. I would love to know the route the Short-toed Lark took to get to Tory Island. Possibly through Shetland or through the Outer Hebrides perhaps? We’ll never know for sure. Thirty minutes before we were due to sail back to the mainland Peter found a female Brambling near the Harbour. I walked down to the Harbour with Ger and we had the Brambling instantly as it sat in a tiny Sycamore tree with a Chiffchaff! Not often you see those species together. The Brambling flew onto the beach to feed. The three lads had a single Snow Bunting up at the Dump with was presumably one of the four from the week before. We got the boat back at 16:30 pm and stopped for food just outside Letterkenny. I was back home by 22:00. One of my better days birding on Tory Island for sure.

I was due to go back to work the coming Sunday (27^th October) so I was hoping nothing would show up that I needed. However, late on the 26^th news came through that Kieran Grace found a Two-barred Warbler on Dursey Island, Co. Cork…the less said about that the better! Knowing I couldn’t get for it due to work; I barely slept a wink that night as I couldn’t get the bird out of my head. Positive news never did come through and the bird had obviously departed during the night under the clear, starry sky. Gutting for all who made the long journey south. A first for Ireland which was not made available to the masses. A Pallas’s Warbler was found at Kearney, Co. Down which I couldn’t try for on the day due to working the closing shift in the shop that evening. Many lads connected with it all day on the Sunday. I travelled with Tom McEntee the following morning, however, despite our best efforts, there was no sign. Steve Miller, Des Higgins, John and Michael Cusack, Stuart McKee and others helped with the search. Only my second dip of the autumn, so I really can’t complain. A Carrion Crow was the best bird on-site. A single Chiffchaff and a couple of Goldcrests were the only migrant passerines in the cover where the Pallas’s Warbler was the previous day. Pallas’s is becoming somewhat of a bogey bird for me especially after having un-tickable views of the bird which Conor Foley found at Loftus Hall, Hook Head, Co. Wexford in 2016. Pallas’s Warbler will come again for sure…I hope. 

Figure 17: The Dream Team. L-R: Gerard Murray, Brian McCloskey, Tom McEntee, Peter Phillips, John Cusack

Many thanks to John Cusack, Gerard Murray, Peter Phillips, Tom McEntee, Conor Foley, Donal Foley, Mark Stewart and Dad who have driven me to every corner of Ireland in pursuit of rare birds. A truly incredible autumn.