Bird watchers flock to Isles of Scilly to catch sight of rare bird native to US

  • Watch as people flock to the island to catch a glimpse of the rare bird.

A rare bird native to the US has been attracting hundreds of people to the Isle of Scilly after it was spotted in England for the very first time.

The Blackburnian Warbler was spotted in Bryher on Thursday (13 October) and was last seen on Friday morning (14 October).

The young male has attracted bird watchers from around the country who have travelled to the Isle in hope of seeing the rare Warbler.

Jaclyn Pearson from the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust said: "It's incredibly exciting. There's a real buzz right now".

"This is a very rare siting. It just shows how incredible these off-islands are in the UK."

The bird is believed to have landed on the Isle when it was blown off its migratory path because of bad weather.

"The birds get blown off course when it's probably migrating North to South America.

"They get blown off course and go into the Atlantic Ocean and then we [Isles of Scilly] might be the first landfall they see.

"It's all about that winter weather, so us bird watchers start to look at the weather and the wind direction and start to preempt when we might get these sitings."

The Warbler was first spotted on Thursday (13 October) Credit: Marc Read

Whilst it's possible to predict when a siting could happen, the Warbler has still proved to be an incredible find, with around 400 people flocking to see the tiny bird - some as far as Scotland and Holland.

But that could be even further, if the bird continues its stay on the Isle.

"We could be seeing people coming from further away if the bird decides to stick around," Jaclyn says.

"On a tiny little field like Bryher where only 90 people live it's quite a spectacle to see 400 people in waterproofs looking at a tiny bird."