A Siberian MEGA Arrives

With continuous easterly winds blowing from Siberia and Scandinavia it was inevitable that our coast line would soon see the arrival of rare birds in good numbers. The question was though, what vagrants would turn up? Shetland was taking most of the glory, as is often the case during late September into October. One of the most interesting bird events was taking place in Scandinavia, with the unprecedented arrival of Siberian Accentor. Over 20 birds had arrived in southern Sweden and Norway by early October and so it was really on the cards that one of these mega rarities would eventually be found in Britain. Sure enough a Siberian Accentor was finally discovered on mainland Shetland at Scousburgh on 9th October, a first for Britain. The bird only stayed 2 days and by Tuesday 11th October, it had disappeared and all seemed rather disappointing, as only the chosen few had managed to connect with this bird. There seemed an awful lot of one-upmanship taking place and after all, who could blame them. But then, unbelievably, another was found on the afternoon of the 13th October, this time a lot closer to home, Easington, near Spurn, on the East Yorkshire Coast. Needless to say the birding fraternity went into cosmic overdrive, a second chance for everyone. Would it stay?

On Friday morning (14th October) around 2000 birders descended on the tiny little Yorkshire village. Considering the amount of people involved, it seemed to me a well behaved crowd and an excellently organised “Twitch” by volunteers from Spurn Bird Observatory. I finally clamped eyes on this little gem around 7:45am. The fun didn’t stop here, by the weekend 15th – 16th October, 2 more Siberian Accentors had been discovered, one in Cleveland and another in County Durham. Seemingly the MEGA value was becoming devalued but after this autumn I wonder when this bird will be seen again in Britain? I’m also wondering how many more will make their way to our shores, as at least another 10-15 birds have been found at various sites in southern Scandinavia. After the Siberian Accentor, we stopped off at Kilnsea and had excellent views of a Shore Lark. It was then back to work.

Siberian Accentor – Easington, East Yorkshire – 14th October 2016 – Tony Davison© –  The second record for Britain of this stunning vagrant from Siberia. The population is only around 1000 pairs but is apparently stable and very little is known about the species. The whole population migrates to Korea and eastern China, returning to the Siberian breeding grounds in  in early June. With such a strong and continuous eastern biased weather system into Scandinavia and Britain, unprecedented numbers of Siberian Accentor have been blown off course this autumn.

Shore Lark – Blue Bell Cafe Car Park, Kilnsea, East Yorkshire – 14th October 2016 – Tony Davison©