Paddyfield Warbler

 

Northern Wheatear

Yesterday a scottish girl named Kat caught a Paddyfield Warbler on Nólsoy. It is the second record for the Faroes. The last one was caught in 1988 on the same island.

Paddyfield Warbler is one of those bird that I expect to find one day – but as the opportunity arose I chose to give the Nólsoy bird a try. Well, sometimes twitching is cool. At least when 94% of your country list contains self-found species (oh, the blessing/curse of lacking birders).

Willow Warbler

I couldn’t reach the early ferry, so I had time to check a few places on Streymoy, where I found Williw Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat.

The I took the ferry to Nólsoy, where I found Kat just as she had closed her nets due to wind. She hadn’t seen the Paddyfield Warbler since yesterday, but Barred Warbler and Marsh Warbler were around.

So I started birding in the wind with not too much confidence. And it really was quite hard with loads of dense gardens and windy conditions. But I managed to find Marsh, Barred, Garden and Wood Warbler. Then the phone rang. It was Rodmund. He had just found a Citrine Wagtail in Tórshavn.

Paddyfield Warbler

As we were talking on the phone I noticed a small bird in a dense garden. “Sorry, I needa to” I said and ended the conversation. After a few seconds I got good views of the bird. YES, it was an acro with a very broad supercilium, short primary projection and a metal ring on its leg. BINGO. PADDYFIELD WARBLER!

Paddyfield Warbler

Getting photos turned out to be another story. There are hundreds of shrubberies and no herrings to cut them down with. So first I tried to flush the bird, which was fruitless. It just vanished. So I simply had to sit down and wait it out. 1 hour, 1½ hour, 2 hours. Yes, finally some glimses. 2½ hours. Yes, finally pictures that can be used to document the bird. 3 house… shoooottttt… I needa run to the ferry.

Paddyfield Warbler

So I didn’t get any good pics, but well, I got an addition to my Faroese list!

Silas Olofson