The big picture

Arctic Redpoll is a rarity that is most commonly found in December and should perhaps be on your radar this winter period.

December can sometimes feel like a bit of a ‘nothing’ month for birders. The excitement of autumn migration is over, and many are patiently seeing out the days ahead of a new year and list in January. But there is one rarity for which December is in fact the prime time: Arctic Redpoll. In the years the species has been assessed by the British Birds Rarities Committee no fewer than 118 have been unearthed in the final month of the year and from a range of sites, too – despite a strong Northern Isles and east coast bias, nine inland counties have recorded Arctic Redpoll in December.

Both forms – Coues’s (ssp exilipes) and Hornemann’s ( hornemanni) – are prone to periodic influxes. The former is more regular in Britain, with 10 in an average year, whereas half that number of hornemanni are expected annually. Hornemann’s breeds in far northeast Canada and north Greenland; it is subsequently something of a Northern Isles and Hebridean specialist and generally found earlier in the autumn, with September and October the peak months. Coues’s breeds in northern Scandinavia east to Alaska and is the more commonly occurring form; it regularly reaches north-west Europe in winter.

The bird pictured here is a Coues’s, photographed in Kelling, Norfolk, in February 2012. The county has good form for the species and in the winter of 2018-19, as many as three were together at Wells Woods. Inland records are not infrequent, and most counties have the species on their list. Influx years offer the best opportunity to find one – in winter 1995-96, an incredible 459 birds were recorded. This influx was far from restricted to the coast. For example, Derbyshire and Staffordshire enjoyed 14 and 13 records respectively.

With good numbers of Lesser Redpolls around in most parts of Britain this winter, it might be wise to take a closer look next time you encounter a flock. ■