British Birders Chartered Private Flights to See Europe’s First Red-winged Blackbird
The bird, a female, was reported on a remote Scottish island this weekend, inspiring "twitchers" throughout the UK to go on the chase of their lives.
In northeastern Scotland, toward the听tip of the听Orkney archipelago that juts into the听North Sea, the airport on North Ronaldsay Island听has been hopping with activity the last few days. Around the same latitude as central Norway, the small island has seen more than 15 airplanes land on its听runway, as well as boats and ferries carrying anxious听travelers, according to .What have these visitors听come so far听to see? A听lone female Red-winged Blackbird.听
While common throughout the United States and听Canada, a听Red-winged Blackbird听has never been spotted听in the UK鈥攐r all of Europe,听for that matter.听As such, the bird has been drawing droves of excited "twitchers,"听the British term for an especially dedicated birder,听since it was spotted Saturday by Simon Davies, the principal assistant warden at the local bird observatory. Some of these birders have gone so far as to听charter private planes,听while others are driving or taking trains for up to 12 hours听before loading onto the听ferries for the remainder of the trip.听听
鈥淚 tweeted about the news and it went crazy, we had nine planes to the island on Sunday and four or five today,鈥 . 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly exciting and top twitchers like to see these very rare birds for themselves and are willing to pay a lot of money to do so.鈥澨
No one is sure how the blackbird听made it to the remote island, but there are two听likely听theories: The听bird could听have hitchhiked on a transatlantic ship, or,听while less plausible, it could have gotten caught up in a hectic听storm and rode听the jet stream to northern Scotland, a听researcher with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds told听The Guardian. Somewhat recently a North American Hermit Thrush has also been spotted in the Scottish Shetland Islands, which the RSPB says gives more credibility to the idea that the blackbird is wild.听
How much longer the female Red-winged Blackbird will choose to stick around is impossible to say,听but one thing is certain: As long as the听striped passerine decides to make North Ronaldsay Island its home, the airport and those ferries will remain busier than normal.听