Twitchers' delight after rare bird hits Inishbofin

Hundreds of bird lovers flocked to Inishbofin Island last week after the first ever sighting in Ireland of a cedar waxwing. The bird, which is native to North America was spotted on the island on Wednesday last by Northern Irish birdwatchers Anthony McGeehan and Craig Nash.“It’s a fairly distinct species which is found primarily in Canada but shifts to the US in the autumn migration,” explains Mr McGeehan. The cedar waxwing migrate along the east coast of North America. However, a fast moving weather system which occurred in that area early last week blew this bird off course, he says.“Birds have to go with the winds when that happens. Two or three unusual species were found from Iceland to the Azores at the same time, so the cedar waxwing could have been part of that,” says Mr McGeehan, adding that Inishbofin offers rich pickings for birdwatchers.“I’ve been coming here for three years now and have always been lucky,” says the birdwatcher who first struck gold on Inishbofin two years ago when he spotted Ireland’s first mourning dove there.One reason why Inishbofin attracts rare species is because it’s the first point of land for birds coming from the US. Also, European birds can fly off course and end up there before realising their mistake and turning back, he adds. So sometimes, it hosts species from different parts of the world, which shouldn’t be found sharing the same habitat. Last year, he spotted a thrush from Siberia on the island. Mr McGeehan was familiar with the cedar waxwing from sightings he had made of the bird in North America. The tips of the wings and tail of this bird look as if they've been dipped in red and yellow wax, hence the name. Their courtship is distinctive as the the male and female will sit together and pass small objects back and forth, such as flower petals or an insect. “The cedar waxwing primarily lives on insects during summer but by autumn in North America insects have died, so they look for berries,” says Mr McGeehan, who was birdwatching with Mr Nash when they saw the visitor in a wet corner of a field behind the beach at the east end of Inishbofin.“It took a while to be sure of what it was, because we couldn’t see him properly. Then he came into full view and started to pick blackberries from the hedge.“He’s the first to be spotted in Ireland and the first found on this side of the Atlantic since 1996. Unfortunately he didn’t have the good grace to hang around,” he jokes.The cedar waxwing spent about six hours on the island on Wednesday but then, it seems, he flew away, leaving large crowds of disappointed birdwatchers – who had travelled to Bofin just to glimpse him – in his wake.“He had probably been planning to spend his migration period in Carolina, now he’ll probably end up in Tenerife,” says Mr McGeehan.