Bunting is spotted off beaten track
Published Date:
03 June 2008
By Carl Gavaghan
A RARE bird which should be sunning itself in the Mediterranean has been photographed near Whitby.
Whitby Gazette reader Sheila Rawson spotted a black-headed bunting in her garden in Raw on Wednesday last week.
It was around for about half an hour and appeared to be eating sunflower seeds on the ground below her bird feeder among some chaffinches.
Alastair Forsyth, Yorkshire Naturalists Union recorder for birds for the area, said it was an adult male.
He said: “Between 1950 and 2006 there have been 174 accepted records of black-headed bunting in UK.
“The main reason records of this species are rejected by the British Birds Rarities Committee is because individuals are suspected of escaping from captivity.
“However, this individual arrives with very good credentials – at an east coast location during a major ‘fall’ of scarce and rare birds along the Yorkshire coast.
“During the last few days of May there were many scarce and a few rare migrant birds along the Yorkshire coast.
“On 29 May I found both golden oriole and icterine warbler, both scarce migrants, at a site between Hawsker and Robin Hood’s Bay.”
Mr Forsyth is always happy to help with bird related queries and can be contacted at birdsvc62@gmail.com
The full article contains 215 words and appears in Whitby Gazette Tuesday newspaper.
-
Last Updated:
02 June 2008 11:26 AM
-
Source:
Whitby Gazette Tuesday
-
Location:
Whitby
