Out of the East . . .

East winds, thick cloud, fog and drizzle . . . classic 'fall' conditions for rare birds on the coast here

Red-breasted Flycatcher (juvenile). From the far east of Europe.

Resin

And a Red-flanked Bluetail . . . magical bird out of western Siberia

And a Dusky Warbler too (no pic, unfortunately). This one has come a minimum of 5,000 km from somewhere east of Novosibirsk, central Siberia.

Also lots of other passage and winter birds arriving, Redwings, Bramblings, Siskins, Scandinavian-race Chiffchaffs, etc., etc. Quite a day!

Resin

Nice shots Resin! Don't get to see many of your birds thanks for sharing. Those 2 remind me of the Warbler's in the fall here.

Nice ones Resin!

Pic of the Dusky Warbler, off one of the local birder's blogs; ©J Malloy

Resin

Great photos of your birds Resin!! Love that bluetail!

So great to see these faraway birds!

Phew, what a weekend! Not just a normal autumn fall, but a mega-fall, the best for at least 10 years. Went back down for another look today, and got more pics. Not just rare birds, but incredible numbers of commoner birds

Robins absolutely everywhere, hundreds of them, here's one

Resin

Garden Warbler

Usually a rather skulking bird, this one was eating elderberries out in full view

Redstart, juvenile female

Redstart again. Almost all birds in falls are juveniles; the adults, with better weather experience, tend not to get caught out by the bad weather, and/or have more strength to carry on to safer feeding areas inland.

Shore Lark (a.k.a. Horned Lark)

Shore Lark again. This one was in the Coastguard's cottage yard.

Hundreds of Goldcrests too, some ridiculously tame, they'd probably never seen humans before in the remote forests of Scandinavia and northwest Russia. This one was taken with macro lens from less than 30 cm distance! In the original photo (too large to upload here) the bird is 3× life size - Goldcrest is Britain's smallest bird, just 9 cm long.

And of course, couldn't not take more photos of the Red-flanked Bluetail, star bird of the show, and performing superbly for the gathered crowd

Bluetail again

Bluetail

Bluetail

And lastly, showing off his/her blue tail . . .

Resin

these are great !!!!!!!!!!!

Very enjoyable. Thanks Resin.

Very nice Resin!! So many of these birds remind of here. I,m not ready to try an Id your bird's but I,m confident I can Id a Bluetail. lol
Really like the Goldcrest shot...weird how they are similar to our Golden-crowned Kinglet's yet not the same. Would that be a female by chance?

Thanks all!

Yep, closely related to Golden-crowned Kinglet, and yep, probably a female.

Resin

Beautiful birds, Resin. The shot of the Goldcrest is a stunner. Looks to be a pretty exciting time.

They just keep on coming . . .

Barred Warbler (from eastern Europe)

Mealy Redpoll (a.k.a. Common Redpoll), from Scandinavia

Also saw a Pallas's Warbler today, no photos unfortunately (too fast-moving)

Resin

You certainly have some beautiful birds there. So glad you're sharing them all with us.

Nice!!

Just think your robins and that little Blue-tail are so cute!

What happened to all our British posters we used to have?

Thanks for the photos. Truly enjoy. Have fun with your birds.

I had two hummingbirds in the back landscape this afternoon. I guess we have two that are staying over.

Wow Resin, Glad you're having a mega-fall. I adore that little goldcrest too.

Great shots Resin, seems like you sure had fun!

Thanks!

It's finally quietened down, with a change in the wind direction to west / northwest.

Just to show how big the event has been, there's been 25 Red-flanked Bluetails reported across Britain in the month. The previous maximum annual total was just 13. A complete re-write of the record books. But a re-write that was started a few years ago - the 13 was in 2008. Until 11 years ago, there'd never been more than 3 in one year, and before 1993, never more than one in a year.

They breed from Finland east across Siberia to Japan; normally, they fly southeast to winter in southern China. With this number (considering probably only 1-2% of birds actually get found!), it isn't lost birds, it is a new migration route developing, perhaps due to global warming making western Europe mild enough for them to survive the winter, and then return to Finland to breed and pass on their new migration direction to their offspring. Evolution in action, fascinating to see!

Resin

Amazing. A shorter distance no doubt.

Wow.....how neat is that...and we can say we read about it here!

Resin, thanks for the history lesson. I find that fascinating. Hummingbirds are also changing their migration routes.

Here min Southern Nevada we get the most beautiful brown birds you have ever seen. We still adore them. We do every once in a while get a very pretty bird that is apparently lost. This last spring we had Robins everywhere. They usually come through and only spend a few days. This year they stuck around, built nests, had babies and actually just left. They love my garden because of all of my worms. They are amazing and fun to watch. Sharon.

Very interesting about the wind Resin. Ive paid attention to the wind more this fall and when it was from the north I seen more birds at the marsh...I guess when the wind is right they will fly (back from) across the lake. Ive read where birds whose habitat was cleared had adapted to it and also within 100 years their wingtips had changed to adapt to the new surroundings. Can't remember which bird though.

Absolutely amazing. Really great photos too.