it made an entire country “chirp” with interest and flock to see it perched on a local resident’s backyard tree.
Around 300 bird watchers thronged a street in the northern city of Sheffield, England, where a scarlet tanager was first spotted sitting on a clothesline.
It is believed that the small yellow-black bird arrived in Britain after diverted from its course by the strong winds of a hurricane in North America. The last time this species was seen in Britain was in 2014.
The scarlet tanager’s migration pattern usually includes a straight north-south line from northern Maine to southern Ecuador. According to the Ohio Ornithological Society, by October the tanager is heading south across the Atlantic — the same month that the southeastern United States was hit by back-to-back hurricanes.
Dave Stone, 75, said he had traveled 280 miles from his home in Exeter with three friends, just to see the bird.
“We left Exeter for Devon at 2am. We arrived here at the first light of day. It’s almost the farthest trip I’ve ever taken [για να δω ένα σπάνιο είδος]”, he told the British media outlet SWNS. “I’ll wait until the light goes out to see it and then we’ll come back.”
“I’ve been doing this since 1985. If I see this bird, it will be my 500th. I have seen many rare species,” he added. “Seen this morning and will be a new bird to me.”
On the other hand, bird watcher Joe Eckersley traveled around 40 minutes from his home in Leeds to see the rare bird on Monday morning.
“I never thought I’d see a scarlet tanager in the UK, let alone Yorkshire,” he said. “He’s probably been here since October. I think the most likely scenario is that it would be derailed by a hurricane.”
“When you’re flying and only weigh a few grams, it’s easy to get blown off course by strong winds.”
Joe said the last sighting of a scarlet tanager was on the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides in 2014, but this is the first time the bird has been seen on the UK mainland after a brief appearance in Cornwall in the 1980s.
He said dozens of people had flocked to the quiet road in West Yorkshire to try and catch a glimpse of the rare visitor.
“When I was there, there were about 60 or 70 people waiting,” Joe recalled.
“We left because we couldn’t see it better, but a friend of mine who is there sent me a picture and it looks like the number of people has doubled. There are at least 100 people there».
With information from Good News Network
