This autumn has seen an unprecedented arrival of rare vagrant birds to our shores. Wind swept migrants from both North America and Siberia. Gems such as Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (1st record for Britain), Tennesee Warbler; Lanceolated Warbler, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Taiga Flycatcher, Red-flanked Bluetail, Brown Shrike, Masked Shrike and so it goes on.
One such vagrant was discovered yesterday morning (17th October 2020) in North Norfolk. A bird that had been predicted and so was probably on many birders radar, the Rufous Bush Chat. The last time one of these was seen in Britain was over 40 years ago at Prawle Point in Devon.
I made the trip to Stiffkey, just beyond Wells-next-the-Sea today (18th October 2020) as this bird was a British tick for me. I’ve seen many in Greece and Turkey, so it wasn’t a completely new species. Although a little distant for the camera, it showed very well to a reasonable crowd, that was well behaved and respecting the current COVID19 restrictions. Also here were Brent Geese, Pink-footed Geese and 7 Red Kites over, drifted away east.
I finished off the day at Holme for Red-flanked Bluetail. Two birds showed well but rather distantly.
