Why 2 birders from St. John’s drove 2,800 km to see … this | 24CA News
It’s unlikely the typical North American would look twice in the event that they noticed a Eurasian blackbird within the wild. At first look, it resembles one thing near the fundamental robin, with its black plumage and pointy invoice.
But in terms of birds, Bruce Mactavish and Ken Knowles should not common North Americans.
The two avid birders — Mactavish from St. John’s and Knowles from close by Outer Cove — have been shocked once they noticed an image circulating on social media days earlier than Christmas of the uncommon hen on the coast of Labrador. It’s a fundamental hen in Europe, recognized there because the widespread blackbird, however the pair mentioned they’re solely conscious of 1 different recorded sighting in North America.
They shortly determined to hit the street. The drawback? It was 1,400 kilometres away.
“It was probably partly insanity,” Knowles chuckled. “Bruce and I and a lot of other birders chase rare birds because of the uniqueness of it. If you saw a kangaroo in Australia, you wouldn’t go out of your way to see it. But if you saw a kangaroo in Newfoundland, you probably would.”
There was an impediment standing of their manner — Christmas. Surely they could not skip Christmas to see a hen, and vacation closures would trigger issues alongside the route. So they took an opportunity on the hen nonetheless being there, and deliberate to depart on Dec. 27.
They left St. John’s round 3:30 a.m. and headed north. They reached the tip of Newfoundland 12 hours later, simply in time to catch the ferry to Labrador. They have been welcomed on the opposite facet by fellow birder Vernon Buckle, who had alerted them to the Eurasian blackbird after it was noticed by a pair, Jeff and Tracy Martin, in Cartwright.
The trio slept half the night time in southern Labrador earlier than driving 4 hours to Cartwright, arriving simply because the solar got here up.
And there it was.
“The bird was there under a spruce tree picking at some frozen apples,” Knowles mentioned. “We were pretty excited because sometimes when we go looking for these rare birds we wait, and wait, and wait, and sometimes they never show up. But sometimes they show up right away, and the rest of the time you get with the bird is all gravy.”
So how lengthy do you spend watching a uncommon hen you drove 1,400 kilometres to see?
“We left after four hours feeling pretty content,” Mactavish mentioned.
“You’d wonder why we spent four hours looking at the same bird and photographing it, but I took over 300 photos and I think I got one that came out well,” Knowles laughed. “The bird, as is its tendency, hides on the ground in the bushes and trees and shrubs, so it was quite annoying at times.”
They rushed again to Blanc-Sablon, on the Quebec facet of the border with southern Labrador, and caught the ferry again to Newfoundland at 7 p.m. the exact same night time.
They drove 12 extra hours, arriving again to the Avalon Peninsula barely three days after they set out within the first place.
“We were elated but tired,” Mactavish mentioned. “We had a little celebratory drink and then went to bed.”
The two birders have been nonetheless feeling the results of the journey once they spoke to 24CA News earlier this week — however not as a result of they have been drained.
“There’s kind of this warm glow,” Knowles mentioned. “Hardly anyone in North America will get to see that bird.”
St John’s Morning Show9:41A uncommon Eurasian Blackbird sighting in Labrador
A uncommon Eurasian Blackbird turned up in Labrador over Christmas, and two native birders weren’t going to overlook their probability to see a hen that is solely been noticed a handful of instances in North America.
