The rare yellow breasted bird has only been spotted four times in the UK (Picture: SWNS)
Hundreds of twitchers descended on tiny island to see a rare American bird thought to have blown off course during migration.
Bird lovers descended on Bryher, one of the smallest islands of the Isles of Scilly, from as far away as the Shetland Islands to see the rare feathered spectacle.
It is only the fourth time the Blackburnian warbler has ever been spotted in the UK and the first time it has been photographed in such detail.
Some birdwaters even waded into the water with some standing for hours, or overnight, to see the bird thought to have got lost during its migration from north to South America.
People travelled the length of the country to see the warbler (Picture: SWNS)
It is thought to have flown off course during migration (Picture: SWNS)
It has only been seen on three other occasions in the UK (Picture: SWNS)
Richard Stonier, 47, a chartered accountant who photographs birds in his spare time, spent eight hours over two days photographing the winged wanderer.
He said: ‘It was quite challenging actually because it has got quite unique feeding characteristics. The warblers we get on this side of the world flit about from one branch to another.
‘This one was more walking and leaping about across twigs, almost like a mouse.’
The blackburnian warbler breeds in the eastern United States and Canada and winters in South America.
Previous sightings in the UK have been on St Kilda in 2009, Fair Isle in 1998 and Skomer in 1961.
Boats were packed with twitchers who wanted to catch a glimpse of the bird (Picture: SWNS)
The male was spotted up a tree on Bryher on the Iscles of Scilly (Picture: SWNS)
Bird lovers couldn’t believe what they were seeing (Picture: SWNS)
Richard said: ‘It’s an extreme rarity. It’s only the fourth time ever it has been seen in the UK, the previous three times have all been inaccessible.
‘It got caught up in one of those storms and was blown across the Atlantic. Most don’t make it. It’s not a water bird, it wouldn’t have had any food.
‘If it tries to fly back it is extremely unlikely it will make it, but it might not know where it is, it might try to migrate south.
‘No one really knows what happens to these American birds once they’re here, they show up and then disappear again.’
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He said another birdwatcher, John Judge, discovered the warbler and spread the word.
Richard said: ‘Most bird watchers base themselves on St Mary’s to see what they can find but John Judge always bases himself on Bryher.
‘This is a fantastic reward for years of hard work and effort. He found it, identified it, and put the word out on the birdwatching information services and now everyone has twitched it.
‘People were arriving from the Shetlands when I was there yesterday.’
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The warbler has only been spotted four times in the UK.
