SPECIES TO LOOK OUT FOR

Red-backed shrike This was once a breeding bird in Britain. Most that turn up along Britain’s east coast are juveniles, with brown-barred upper parts and pale bellies adorned with crescent marks along each flank. Yellow-browed warbler Small and paler than a chiffchaff, and with a conspicuous pale stripe over the eye and a dark line below, this tiny warbler breeds in eastern Russia and China. Around 300 are recorded each autumn on Britain’s east coast. Barred warbler A little bigger than a house sparrow, and with a long tail and large head, most individuals spotted in eastern Britain are young birds approaching their first winter, with distinctive buff fringes to their wing feathers. Breeding in eastern Europe, about 150 are recorded annually along our east coast, en route to East Africa. Red-breasted flycatcher No larger than a blue tit, most individuals travelling to West Africa via Britain’s coast don’t have the orange-red chin, but all plumages have two distinctive white patches at the base of a constantly flicking tail. The nearest breeding population of this dinky and dumpy flycatcher is in southern Scandinavia. Red-eyed vireo The size of a great tit, with a grey cap, red eyes (in adults) and a white eye stripe, these warbler-like birds breed in North America’s forests. Britain gets at least one bird each autumn, which has mistaken the Isles of Scilly for South

America.