People flock to Halifax to spot rare birds

Crowds of birdwatchers flocked to a quiet cul-de-sac after a rare sighting of a species perched on a garden washing line.

The report of the scarlet tanager in Shelf, near Halifax, is believed to be the first time one of the birds has been seen in Yorkshire.

The dense songbird usually travels between the eastern United States and South American lowland forests twice a year.

One twitcher who made an early morning journey from London described catching a glimpse of the creature as “encouraging”.

Dozens of bird watchers gathered along the street after the first reports that the bird had been spotted were shared online and on social media.

Geoffrey King, who has been birdwatching for 15 years, made the 220-mile (354km) trip north from Weybridge in Surrey to West Yorkshire in the early hours of Monday.

He arrived at the scene at 09:30 GMT, but it was another five hours before a muffled murmur rippled through the crowd, signaling that the bird had become visible.

“It was very exciting,” he said.

Mr. King, 67, had packed his tripod and was ready to book a hotel when he saw the bird.

“I had basically given up. Someone called and there it was at the top of the tree! It was such a relief to see it,” he enthused.

The scarlet tanager was Mr. King’s the 478th species seen in the UK, he added.

Another avian aficionado, who only gave his details as Paul from London, said it had been an early start to get to the site in good time.

“I got up at five this morning and was on the road at 5.30am,” said the 61-year-old.

“The older I get, the more it blows my mind that something the size of a sparrow can fly across the ocean, 3,000 miles (4,828 km), to get here. It’s extraordinary.”

He said it had been his first sighting of the species in nearly five decades of birding.

According to the American Bird Conservancy, the scarlet tanager’s song is often described as “like a robin with a cold”.

Also hoping to hear it among the assembled twitchers was Luke Nash, who made the trip from Durham.

“I saw it online last night and went straight down,” said the 22-year-old.

“This is completely unprecedented. The last sighting was something like 10 years ago.

“I was a bit suspicious when I heard it was here. I was fiddling around playing with my camera, looking at my phone and then someone yelled that it was coming in and then the camera came out of the bag and the binoculars were up .”

The scarlet tanager is Mr Nash’s 435th species seen in Britain.

Website bird guides said on X that the sighting is believed to be the first in Yorkshire.

“Never before seen in Yorkshire, the first winter male colored tanager is only the eighth UK record and the first since 2014,” it said.

According to Cornell University’s All about Birds website, the male breeding birds have a bright red body and black wings and tails, while females and young birds have a yellowish-green body.

It is usually the duller yellow birds that are seen in Britain after being swept off course by storms as they migrate south in autumn, the website said.

One man in the crowd had traveled a little less far than other enthusiasts – he had traveled from a few hundred meters away in the village.

The temporary twitcher had been walking his dog when he spotted the crowds and decided to join them, declaring he would be “chuffed to bits” to see the American visitor.

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