The Taiga who came to Tyneside
Harry Richardson took full advantage of promising weather conditions on the east coast to find a mega-rare Siberian vagrant at his local patch.
first started birding at a young age and have always had a keen interest in migrant birds appearing on the east coast, close to where I live, during autumn. Having recently graduated from Northumbria University this year, after completing a course in environmental science, I have had more time to go out birding with the aim of hopefully finding my own rarities. One particular area at which I have been focusing a lot of time is Trow Quarry in South Shields – a coastal site that has previously hosted many rare birds, such as Britain’s first Eastern Crowned Warbler in October 2009.
I’d been keeping an eye on what was appearing along the east coast, with Wednesday 14 October producing scarce migrants such as Red-flanked Bluetail, and Dusky,
Radde’s and Pallas’s Warblers up and down the country – I felt like it was a good time to head out and see what was about. With a northeast wind blowing and some rain overnight, it looked and felt good for birds arriving.
I didn’t arrive at Trow until after 12.30 pm, though it was apparent that a good arrival of birds was happening – Redwings and Blackbirds were flying inland overhead as I walked from the car down to the quarry. On entering the most northerly corner of the site, Goldcrest, Blackbirds and European Robins were the only birds of note, with a pair of European Stonechats joining them. The ‘Main Bowl’ area was pretty similar, producing a good number of Redwings and Goldcrests, as well as a Common Chiffchaff and
two Blackcaps. Making my way south around the site, I walked around the ‘Southern Bowl’ – an area consisting of two Elder trees and exposed grassy rock-faces. Scanning with my binoculars, I noticed a lot of movement within the smaller of the two Elders – with Dunnock, European Robin and two European Stonechats immediately apparent.
Moving closer toward the bushes another bird appeared from the ground and flitted across to the larger Elder. Here it sat for a few seconds, where I was able to note a brownish flycatcher, before it flew again. The bird was very flighty, feeding continuously and only stopping still for a few seconds at a time. After taking a few photos while it sat in one of the Elders, I reviewed these and saw what appeared to be a Red-breasted Flycatcher. I took a photo of my camera screen and posted it on Twitter to share with other local birders, before continuing to watch the bird feed for another 10 minutes or so, before I had to leave due to work commitments.
On finishing work, my phone was full of Twitter notifications and it was apparent there was something different about the bird I had found. Other birders were quick to pick up on the pale tones within the bird’s plumage, as well as black bill, jet black uppertail coverts and pale tertial fringing, with lots of speculation around the bird being a Taiga Flycatcher.
The next morning, the bird was still present, allowing around 70 birders to connect at first light – still with a lot of speculation over its true identity. On Friday morning the bird was heard to call for the first time and its identity was confirmed beyond doubt as a Taiga Flycatcher. The bird continued on site over the weekend, showing very well at times, until the evening of Sunday 18th. ■