Scarlet tanager Yorkshire sighting brings out crowds to Halifax

November 12

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==BBC / Elizabeth Baines

Hundreds of people have headed to the residential street for a glimpse of the rarely seen creature

Crowds of bird watchers flocked to a quiet cul-de-sac after a rare sighting of a species, usually at home in the US, perched on a Yorkshire garden washing line.

The report of the scarlet tanager in Shelf, near Halifax, is believed to be the first time one of the creatures has been sighted in the county.

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

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

Dozens of bird watchers assembled along the street after initial reports that the bird had been sighted were shared online and on social media.

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Keen birdwatchers travelled miles for a glimpse of the scarlet tanager

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 on scene at 09:30 GMT but it was a further five hours before a hushed murmur rippled through the crowd, signalling the bird had become visible.

“It was very exhilarating,” he said.

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

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

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

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A delighted Geoffrey King made the scarlet tanager his 478th species spotted

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

“I got up at five o’clock this morning and was on the road for 05:30,” the 61-year-old said.

“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 (4,828km), to get here. It’s extraordinary.”

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

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==BBC / Elizabeth Baines

Telescopes, lenses and binoculars were used to catch a glimpse of the bird, which weighs around 10oz (28g)

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 headed straight down,” the 22-year-old said.

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

“I was a bit suspicious when I heard it was here. I was dawdling and playing with my camera, looking at my phone and then someone shouted 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 spotted in Britain.

Website Bird Guides said on X that the sighting was believed to be the first in Yorkshire.

“Never before seen in Yorkshire, the first-winter male scarlet tanager is just the eighth British 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 juvenile birds have a yellowish-green body.

It is usually the duller yellowish birds which are spotted in the UK, having been swept off course by storms as they migrate south in the autumn, the website said.

One man among the throng had travelled a little less far than other enthusiasts – he had journeyed from a few hundred metres away in the village.

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

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.

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