Red-flanked Bluetail
Red-flanked Bluetail: the bird adored by Ruth and one that does what it says on the tin…
Ruth Miller on a bird she adores and one that does exactly what it says on the tin
Ilove a bird that does just what it says on the tin, and the Red-flanked Bluetail is a great example of this. Both males and females do indeed have red, or maybe rather orangeyred, flanks and the tail is a lovely steel-blue colour. An adult male in full breeding plumage is a glorious sight with Prussian-blue back, wings and head, while the females and immature males are a less exciting brown above, but still have a chirpy appeal with their bright button eyes and quick darting attention as they are constantly on the lookout for insects.
I’ve been lucky enough to see these handsome birds on their breeding grounds in northern Finland, where I’ve encountered them on the forested slopes of the hilly region close to the border with Russia. If you thought Finland was all flat, then think again; this is the area for winter Olympic sports and terrifyingly steep ski-jump towers loom over the nearby village.
We’ve puffed up the steep path as it wends its way through the trees which even in early June have been covered with a fall of snow that very morning, keeping our eyes and ears open for these delightful Robin-sized birds.
Tantalising view
Even with such colour, they can still be tricky to find. After all, there’s a huge amount of similar habitat in Finland and across Siberia for a small bird to choose from. The air here is cold and clean, witnessed by the hanging mosses that drape the lower branches, and our breath steams.
A flicker of movement catches our eye, and we step off the path into the snow to follow it. There! On a pile of dead branches tangled on the ground, a male Red-flanked Bluetail pauses, its tail quivering in the dappled sunlight.
For a split second it hops down onto a tree-stump giving a full but tantalisingly brief view before dashing away in a trail of blue to another tree.
We blunder after it, tripping and stumbling over the rough ground, and the Red-flanked Bluetail rewards us with a more prolonged view as it perches out on a branch halfway up a pine tree. What a beauty!
It is no less exciting to see them here in the UK, and I’ve been lucky enough to encounter several of them this autumn. Red-flanked Bluetails overwinter in south-east Asia, but they are being increasingly recorded as a vagrant to our shores in autumn as they migrate.
Coastal delights
This year, Red-flanked Bluetails turned up in October on the east coast of Britain, including both the Yorkshire coast and north Norfolk coasts, where I saw them, a lucky case of right place, right time.
In fact, our timing in Yorkshire couldn’t have been better. We rounded the corner past the Crown and Anchor pub at Kilnsea on our way to Spurn Point, to see some people peering into the garden opposite. Jumping out to investigate, we saw a wonderful immature Red-flanked Bluetail perched low in an ornamental bush, its blue tail all a-quiver. How wonderful!
This active little bird was constantly on the move, circuiting the garden via the ornamental bush, a dense shrub, a bare fruit tree, a doorstep, and a patch of open lawn. It was clearly finding plenty of food, as were the Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher that were keeping it company in this pocket-sized garden, all three birds being far too intent on feeding up to maintain their strength on their long migration to pay any attention to us watching them over the garden fence. What a garden!
We had come to the Yorkshire coast in the anticipation of enjoying autumn migration and here was a brilliant display playing out right before our eyes, not to mention the myriad Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs, Redwings, Ring Ouzel, Yellow-browed Warblers, Short-eared Owls and even a Long-eared Owl we enjoyed during our visit.
On another birdwatching trip later in the month we were treated to at least three different Red-flanked Bluetails on the North Norfolk coast. The first two sightings were perhaps more characteristic of the bird, in both cases showing only briefly at the base of a bush followed by long absences. However Red-flanked Bluetail Number Three was a different character altogether.
Another immature bird, this character was far more confiding than the others. Again it was following a circuit: an open Hawthorn bush, a dead stock, a wooden fence post, a tangle of ivy, a patch of exposed earth and back to the Hawthorn bush again.
Once we had worked out its circuit, it was simply a case of waiting patiently at a good spot a suitable distance from the bushes and letting the bird do its thing as it looked for, and found, abundant insects around the vegetation in the autumn sunshine.
At times, it perched most obligingly in the open branches, showing us alternately its front, side, and rear views to allow us to appreciate every angle. What a superb bird; we hoped it found enough insects to fuel a successful migration to its wintering grounds.
As Red-flanked Bluetails seem to be spreading westwards in their breeding range there’s hope that these engaging little migrants will be seen here more regularly in future. So, if you catch sight of a flash of an orangey-red flank, a quivering blue tail and a beady button eye on the lookout for insects, you’ll know exactly what you have on your hands: a bird that does just what it says on the tin!
Ruth Miller is one half of The Biggest Twitch team, and along with partner Alan Davies, set the then world record for most bird species seen in a year – 4,341, in 2008, an experience they wrote about in their book, The Biggest Twitch. Indeed, Ruth is still the female world record-holder! As well as her work as a tour leader, she is the author of the Birds, Boots and Butties books, on walking, birding and tea-drinking in North Wales, and previously worked as the RSPB’s head of trading. She lives in North Wales. birdwatchingtrips.co.uk