News broke late on Sunday after a homeowner photographed a strange yellow-and-black bird on their washing line. The photographs were posted on Facebook.
The bird was a Scarlet Tanager, a first-winter male, and it turned out that it had been present since the beginning of the week. News soon spread about its location, a place called Shelf in West Yorkshire.
I had to wait until Tuesday to visit the site since I was at work on Monday. That morning, while I was at work, the news broke that the Scarlet Tanager had been found again. The bird was present all day, and the WhatsApp groups were buzzing with photographs of it!
Back in 2011, I had left the Isles of Scilly during a holiday to chase after a Scarlet Tanager that had been spotted in Cornwall (see below), only to find that the bird wasn’t there. It ended up returning to the Isles of Scilly the next day. This bird species had already given me the runaround!
St Levan, Cornwall, first-winter male, 20th to 21st October 2011
Isles Of Scilly, Sandy Lane, St Mary's, first-winter male, 22nd October 2011
What I wasn’t expecting was the sheer number of birders on site for this bird on a Tuesday morning when I arrived, after apparently 400 people had been on site yesterday. Does nobody work anymore?
7.15am in the morning!
The main area where the bird had been seen yesterday
Yesterday was a nightmare for birdwatchers. A few birders briefly spotted the bird in a tree down the road just before 8:00 AM. As everyone surged forward, the bird quickly flew away. It was seen again shortly before 9:00 AM near the side of a house, where it perched in a cherry tree for a few seconds. Due to the size of the area, you really had to be in the right place to catch a glimpse of the bird.
Birders On Site
The remainder of the day passed without any sightings of the bird before dusk. However, I remained hopeful that it was still nearby. I decided to head home, planning to return in the morning when the crowds would hopefully have dispersed. A few phone calls and texts had me laughing throughout the evening, especially when I found out that I had appeared on the regional news and even made it onto ITV News.
I arrived back on site at 7:00 AM, and thankfully, there were only a few people present. However, by 9:00 AM, there was still no sign of the bird. I decided to team up with the remaining birders, and we began knocking on doors along the top road, looking down at the area I had been observing yesterday. Fortunately, a kind lady named Mavis allowed us into her garden, placing us in a prime position to spot the bird if it appeared.
Mavis's garden overlooked the area where the Scarlet Tanager had been regularly seen over the last week, after talking to a few of Mavis's neighbours.
We waited and waited, hopeful that the bird would return. As other birders began to leave, convinced by Sparrowhawk theories that it had gone, I decided to stay until dusk. By that time, only eight of us remained! At 2:30 PM, while walking down the garden, Dave Woodhouse shouted, "Al, it's in the tree!" Unbelievably, after 15 and a half hours of standing around, I was finally watching this incredible bird! There was no pushing, no crowding—just eight of us in total silence, fully absorbed in the moment as we observed this magnificent bird.
First photographs of the Scarlet Tanager
The Tanager continued to be visible, and the birders who had left began to return for excellent views of it.
Me and Dave Woodhouse I; Dave had been on site since yesterday morning as well! Dedication and patience had finally paid off!
IMAGES AND VIDEO OF THE SCARLET TANAGER!
Previous Records
2014 Outer Hebrides Brevig, Barra, first-winter female, 6th to 9th October, trapped 7th October
2011 Isles Of Scilly, Sandy Lane, St Mary's, first-winter male, 22nd October
2011 Cornwall, St Levan, first-winter male, 20th to 21st October
1982 Isles Of Scilly, Higher Moors, St Mary's, female, 12th, to 18th October
1981 Cornwall, Nanquidno, St Just, first-winter male, 11th October
1975 Isles Of Scilly, Tresco, first-winter male, 28th, September to 3rd October
1970, Isles Of Scilly, Porth Hellick, St Mary's, first-winter male, 4th October
