Red-Eyed Vireo is your classic autumn yank rarity, guaranteed to turn any day from mediocre to brilliant in a flash of green and silvery white.
Hilariously, the Incompetent Rare Bird Committee that is the IRBC accidentally left this species out of it’s recent rare bird appendices revision, meaning that currently, **Red-Eyed Vireo **is not a rarity in Ireland. 😂😂
They can’t seem to admit that error or correct it either (which would be an admission) and so the entire country trundles on pretending not to know. 😂😂😂😂
I’ve seen many REVs over the years in Ireland, but my only self found one fell on the 19th of October, 2011.
We had rented our usual house on Mizen Head for October, and Shane "The Faddler" Farrell was staying down with us for a weekend of birding.
We had worked …
Red-Eyed Vireo is your classic autumn yank rarity, guaranteed to turn any day from mediocre to brilliant in a flash of green and silvery white.
Hilariously, the Incompetent Rare Bird Committee that is the IRBC accidentally left this species out of it’s recent rare bird appendices revision, meaning that currently, **Red-Eyed Vireo **is not a rarity in Ireland. 😂😂
They can’t seem to admit that error or correct it either (which would be an admission) and so the entire country trundles on pretending not to know. 😂😂😂😂
I’ve seen many REVs over the years in Ireland, but my only self found one fell on the 19th of October, 2011.
We had rented our usual house on Mizen Head for October, and Shane "The Faddler" Farrell was staying down with us for a weekend of birding.
We had worked quite a few locations around the head in the morning and it was looking like just a couple of Yellow-Browed Warbler and a Siberian Chiffchaff were to be the best on offer.
That changed when checking Joe’s Garden and, stood on the ditch looking into the field opposite the entrance, I suddenly picked up something silvery rising to the top of a nearby bush.
Expecting a Blackcap, my heart stopped when it popped out in full view, revealing a blue cap, bright green upperparts and a supercillium that was visible from space!
I screamed "Red-Eyed Vireo!". Shane jumped up on the ditch beside me and obtained great views, whilst Conor and Don came running out of Joe’s just in time to grab a glimpse, before the bird dove into Joe’s Garden itself.
There was no worry though, as the bird gave itself up in Joe’s for a period of several days.
Red-Eyed Vireo - Jez Simms
The bird was widely twitched over that time, providing good shots for a number of people.
Again, I suspect there was more out there which have now likely disappeared from websites now gone.
I really enjoyed this bird over the course of it’s stay and it remains the one I got the best views of, at one point hopping around my feet in a ditch. 😍
You just can’t beat finding a yank. Doesn’t matter what kind. They stay with you.