Eastern Black Redstart, Red flanked Bluetail etc Dec 2025 – Feb 2026

Catching up with a few birds seen relatively recently.

The Eastern Black Redstart at Sheringham has been a long-staying, very confiding bird.  This is a asian subspecies group of the Black Redstart that occasionally appears in the UK as a vagrant.  There have been fewer than 25 accepted records in British history, mostly along the eastern and southern coasts.

In its native range (Central and Eastern Asia, including the Altai Mountains and Himalayas). It breeds between 2,000 and 5,000 meters above sea level. They normally migrate south to India or northern Africa for the winter.

The Red-flanked Bluetail near Dereham. This is a small, robin-like bird that has transitioned from a legendary "mega-rarity" to a scarce but annual visitor to the UK. While most sightings occur on the East Coast during autumn migration, it is increasingly found wintering in the UK.

There is also an individual that has been wintering at Crockham Hill Common in Kent. The species breeds across a vast "taiga" belt from Finland and Estonia, east through Siberia to Japan. It favours dense, damp, old-growth forests—primarily spruce and fir.

The Red-flanked Bluetail is a long-distance migrant: Primary Destination: Most of the population winters in Southeast Asia, including Southern China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Secondary Areas: It is also found in the Himalayan foothills, Taiwan, and parts of the Indian Subcontinent.

The two potential Siberian Lesser Whitethroat overwintering in Seaton. In the UK, this bird is primarily known as a scarce autumn passage migrant, appearing significantly later than our breeding birds.

Unlike the common Lesser Whitethroat,  which is a widespread summer visitor to the UK, the Siberian race does not breed here. They are most frequently recorded along the East Coast (e.g., Shetland, Norfolk, and East Yorkshire) as they drift off-course while migrating from Siberia to Southern Asia or Northeast Africa.

Distinguishing them from the European race is notoriously difficult and often requires DNA analysis or extremely close "in-the-hand" inspection by bird ringers.

Their native range is across Siberia and Central Asia, they breed in boreal forests, willow thickets near rivers, and scrubby forest edges.

The Shorelark is a scarce winter visitor to the UK with only about 70 to 100 individuals typically wintering in the UK each year. While most larks are famously "little brown jobs," the Shorelark stands out with its vivid "superhero mask" facial markings.

They usually arrive in October or November and depart by April. They are almost exclusively found along the East Coast of England and Scotland (notably Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and East Yorkshire). They are very rare inland.

Shorelarks do not typically breed in the UK (with only a handful of historic records in the Scottish Highlands). Their "normal" summer is spent in the high Arctic tundra of Scandinavia and Russia or in alpine meadows above the tree line.