WINTER’S WILDLIFE Welcome brows around Britain
North American birds have held the bragging rights this autumn by dominating the headlines with a once-in-a-lifetime wood-warbler spectacular.
Over 10 glorious days in late September, the ornithological record books were rewritten with a flurry of discoveries this side of the Atlantic in the wake of Hurricane Lee.
Britain’s first Canada warbler was followed by only the second bay-breasted warbler, third and fourth magnolia warblers as well as a stellar supporting cast of Tennessee and black-and-white warblers, ovenbird and northern parula.
Now, as leaves curl and crisp, conkers fall and thoughts turn to the first frosts, the sounds of Siberia are filling the air.
No bird calls evoke the spirit of the dense forests that stretch from Russia’s Ural foothills to the Pacific than those of the yellow-browed warbler.
Weighing little more than a goldcrest, these tiny leaf warblers produce a loud and strident “swu-eest” contact call to betray their presence long before they emerge from tree cover.
Once in the open, the combination of lush greens and dazzling head and wing markings distinguish them as one of the most striking Old World warblers, a family that perches on a different evolutionary branch from their American namesakes.
Yellow-browed warblers are members of the phylloscopus – leaf-seeker – genus alongside our well-known chiffchaffs and willow warblers.
Since the YBW’S first British occurrence – a bird shot in Northumberland in 1838 – sightings here have increased. By the 1960s, with more than 300 records, the species was no longer classed as an official rarity.
Today, with annual counts of more than 4,500 birds, it has become impossible for recorders to keep accurate track of numbers so they are no longer classed as scarce visitors to our shores.
By rights, they should winter in the tropical climes of Bengal, China and the Malay Peninsula.
For some as yet unexplained reason, sizeable portions of the population are now taking a westward migratory track to Europe, leading to speculation that they may one day breed in the UK.