Busy autumn at Bempton RSPB

Bempton has had a thrill of an autumn with many birders spending plenty of time on the site looking for these vagrant gems. The autumn began in September when news broke that a possible Pale-legged Leaf Warbler had been seen around the car park feeders by Andy Hood, the news was awaited with bated breath whether the ID was to be confirmed.

Steve Williams
Visitor Experience Manager Poppy and Reserve Warden David Aitken said:
“When the realisation hit on the afternoon of Friday 27 September that Britian’s first (live) Pale-legged Leaf Warbler was skulking somewhere on site, we prepared ourselves for a largescale mainland twitch. The reserve is well positioned to host large numbers of visitors and has an excellent track record of rare and scarce birds turning up. Staff and volunteers were up and out pre-dawn to manage the car parks and marshal the large crowds of excited birders, for the safety of the bird and its admirers.”
At the break of dawn, the carpark at Bempton Cliffs RSPB was already filled with cars of eagerly awaiting birders all lined up on the path scanning the patch of vegetation for a glimpse of any phyllosc.
“Over the course of its 8-day stay several thousand birders made the trip to see the bird, and for the most part, were very well behaved. It takes an enormous effort to manage such a large scale ‘event’ like this and we are incredibly grateful to the volunteers and staff that helped, and that so many people got to come and enjoy this incredibly rare eastern phyllosc.”
News subsequently broke that the bird had previously been seen and the ID was never confirmed with Eastern Crowned Warbler and Arctic Warbler both having been claimed but ID was clinched by Trev Charlton who sound-recorded the bird.
Bempton later had a run of great birds with a Red-tailed Shrike/Isabelline Shrike then being found a day after the departed Pale-legged Leaf Warbler which then resulted in a further scurry of birders visiting the site.

Beth Clyne
You can read about previous records of Pale-legged Leaf Warbler in Britain, particularly the Scilly St Agnes bird.