Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros (eastern races phoenicuroides/rufiventris/xerophilus)
Vagrant. Asia.
Most Black Redstarts occurring in Britain belong to the European subspecies gibraltariensis. Other subspecies occur further east, including ochruros in south-western Asia and phoenicuroides, plus rufiventris and xerophilus (similar but less likely to occur in Europe), in central and eastern Asia. The plumage characters of the eastern races have become better understood over the past twenty years, and 13 birds belonging to the phoenicuroides/rufiventris/xerophilus complex are now accepted as having occurred in Britain (Stoddart 2016, BBRC). In the process, however, some earlier records of individuals considered to belong to eastern races have been deemed unacceptable; that applies to two examples in Lincolnshire, included as ‘showing the characteristics of ochruros or phoenicuroides’ by L&A. The male at Saltfleetby on October 15th-17th 1978 had a combination of features not associated with any subspecies of Black Redstart and was thought to be a hybrid, while the male at Donna Nook on October 21st 1988 (actually present 16th-22nd) appeared very close to ochruros but it was felt that an unusual example of gibraltariensis or an intergrade could not be ruled out (Stoddart 2016).
As a result of the reviews, no eastern Black Redstarts were accepted as having occurred in the county at that time. However, a small influx occurred in 2016 when seven were found in Britain including one in Lincolnshire, which now becomes the first county record. The summary from BBRC in their Report on rare birds in Great Britain in 2016 was as follows:
Given the extension of easterly vectors into November 2016, it was perhaps unsurprising that there should be a record-breaking influx, alongside good numbers of other birds from ‘high, dry Asia’ including Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus), and Isabelline (Oenanthe isabellina) and Desert Wheatears (O. deserti). The all-time total of this taxon has now doubled in a single autumn. Have we really been overlooking them for years? As always, the records involve first-winter males in the relatively distinctive ‘paradoxus’ plumage.
| Site | First date | Last date | Count | Notes |
| Donna Nook | 26/10/2016 | 28/10/2016 | 1 | 1CY male |
Finder's report: Eastern Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros phoenicuroides/rufiventris/ xerophilus, first record for Lincolnshire at Donna Nook on 26th-28th October 2016.
by Steve Lorand and Linda Harvey.
An almost continuous easterly airflow during October ensured a succession of Siberian and Asian rarities along the east coast of the UK, and Donna Nook certainly received its fair share of memorable vagrants. The best of these included a Great Grey Shrike, 2 Radde’s Warblers, several Pallas’s Warblers, good numbers of Yellow-browed Warblers, several Firecrests, a Rosy Starling, a Red-flanked Bluetail, 2 Siberian Stonechats, 2 Red-breasted Flycatchers, a Richard’s Pipit, an Arctic Redpoll, at least 2 Northern Bullfinches and a Little Bunting.
Of course, all good things come to an end, and so it was on October 26th when the wind switched, albeit only to a gentle blow from the SSW. After such a run of good sightings, I began the day in an optimistic mood. Heartened by the locating of a couple of Shore Larks on the beach and two Hen Harriers and two Bean Geese on the coastal fields, I moved along the dunes, but only a handful of thrushes and Robins appeared to be present. At 1030 I reached a section of the dunes which had been recently cleared of Sea Buckthorn and fenced for the purpose of grazing sheep. I refer to this part of the area as the North Hills in my notes and it has become one of my favourite spots on my patch. The dunes here are quite hilly, grassy and with a good scattering of Hawthorns and Elders. At passage times, the shrubs and fences are particularly attractive to flycatchers, warblers, chats and the occasional shrike, while the close-grazed pasture is often frequented by Wheatears, thrushes and pipits.
As I neared the gate to the enclosure, I suddenly obtained brief views of a male Redstart at ca.40 yards range. It was perched with a nearby Robin on a fallen dead Elder, but after only 3-4 seconds, a Sparrowhawk passed low overhead and caused both birds to dart into a patch of Hawthorns. My initial impression had been of a bright Common Redstart, but the bird seemed wrong, somehow. The head and chest were too dark, there seemed no white on the head and the orange underparts were quite striking. Even after such a brief view, I sensed that this was perhaps not a Common Redstart, but despite a long wait and fairly thorough search, I was unable to find the bird again. Doubts began to set in and I resigned myself to the bird perhaps being an imperfectly observed Common Redstart. Later I made a note in the log that a Redstart on the North Hills could have been an Eastern bird and left it as such until the evening when I read on the Spurn website that an Eastern Black Redstart had been recorded at Easington on the previous day. This news from just across the mouth of the Humber was frustrating and started thoughts racing through my head, but at least fresh hopes were raised for the following day.
Next morning when I returned to the area, I had no difficulty in relocating the bird. However, once again it proved to be evasive, frequenting the Hawthorn bushes and being continually chased and driven off by Robins. As in the case of the recent Red-flanked Bluetail at Stonebridge, the mobbing and very active aggression of the Robins was a constant threat to any prolonged views out in the open. Today’s views of the Redstart were all fleeting and at distance and not once did I manage to see the bird at rest. I went for long periods without seeing the bird at all, then a Robin would chase it from one bush to another until eventually it resorted to a large section of Sea Buckthorn outside the enclosure and was not seen again. All I had obtained were a few views of the upperparts in flight and no photographs, and as I noted on the LBC website that evening, its constant manner of diving into cover seemed hardly suggestive of “ochruros”.
After two days of frustrating glimpses and disappearances of the flighty Redstart, I was finally able to obtain short, but better views and a few poor distant record photographs on October 28th. I had to spend the entire morning watching and waiting, but was at last able to ascertain that the bird was an Eastern Black Redstart. Initially, as yesterday, I was trying to stalk the bird with a camera, but soon realized that I could easily finish with no results at all. Instead, I concentrated on field views and notes and then managed some photographs later. I first saw the bird come from the seaward side of the dunes and land for 3-4 seconds at the top of a Hawthorn. From there it dropped down onto another Hawthorn and sat on the edge in full sunshine for a short while before it disappeared again. Over the next three hours, I stayed mostly still, but saw it only fleetingly on each occasion that it showed itself at ranges mainly between 20-40 yards. Today, it was being harassed less often by the Robins. Occasionally it would emerge from a bush, take flight and snap at flying insects, then return to a perch within the bush, bob its body and quiver its tail. Sometimes it would drop to the ground, hop quickly to seize a food item and return almost immediately up into the bush where it was usually out of sight. One is used to observing more confiding Black Redstarts on fences, buildings and on open ground rather than this bird which was so difficult to see in the confines of leafy bushes.
From the accumulation of short views, I could see that the upperparts were a clean mid-grey with a very slight trace of a light brown wash on the mantle which was visible on nearer rear views in the good light. The primaries, greater coverts and secondaries were dark blackish-brown, edged and tipped orange-buff. The tips to the primary coverts formed a very narrow wing-bar. There was no trace of any wing panel, nor was there any white on the head above the black of the lores and throat. The black bib with some admixture of greyish tips to the feathers came well down onto the upper breast and was sharply demarcated from the strong orange of the underparts which extended fully to the undertail coverts and tail. I could not make out the extent of the orange on the underwing coverts, but certainly did not note any contrasting colours when the bird flew. The orange of the dark-centred tail was slightly darker than the underparts. The eye was dark and the bill and legs were black.
After the problems of the two previous days, I was pleased to be able to obtain some description of the bird even though it was briefer than I would have liked. In the early afternoon I put out the news that I had confirmed identification onto BirdLine and to some of the Lincolnshire observers, but owing to the difficult access to the site and the shortening daylight hours, only Roy and Linda Harvey made the journey. Unfortunately, the bird resorted back to its elusive ways during the afternoon and despite an extensive search only Linda was able to see it. She had experienced the Scarborough bird in December 2014. Today, she saw this individual on a Sea Buckthorn bush at ca.25 yards range. In the few seconds that she could watch it through binoculars, she could clearly see the upperparts and the extent of the orange on the underparts before it dropped into thicker vegetation. Roy was ca.100 yards away at the time and missed the bird altogether. Next day, a Saturday, saw the arrival of ca.30 observers, but quite typically there were no further signs of the bird. Earlier, when I was talking to John McLoughlin at BirdLine, he informed me that wintering birds of this race that he had seen in Oman behaved very much like this bird and would dart into Acacia scrub and be almost impossible to see again.
This record was accepted by BBRC and is published in BB 110 page 612. This bird constitutes the 8th British record and the first for Lincolnshire. The bird seen at Easington on 25th October may have been the same individual.
Discussion
Incomplete knowledge of the variations of plumage of Eastern Black Redstart led to a review by BOURC in 1998-99 and consequently the earlier records were removed from the British list. Two of these birds were Lincolnshire examples. The first, an adult male at Saltfleetby on October 15th-17th 1978 was deemed to be a hybrid Black x Common Redstart while the second bird at Donna Nook on October 16th-22nd October 1988 was judged to be within the range of variation of the race “gibraltariensis”. After its removal from the national list, it was not long before Eastern Black Redstart was reinstated. Improved understanding of its plumages, particularly the “paradoxus” type led to some recent records being accepted. “Paradoxus” type plumage is the adult-like plumage which is acquired by some males in their first autumn. The original first national record in Kent in 1981 was reinstated and by the end of 2015 there was a total of six British records accepted. Seven more records were added during the autumn influx of 2016. So far, all the records are of 1st CY males and no doubt the much trickier female-type plumages are causing birds to be overlooked. A comprehensive paper on Eastern Black Redstarts by Andy Stoddart can be found in British Birds 109, 211-219 (2016).
Previous British records (preceding this bird):-
Dungeness, Kent, November 7th1981.
Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, November 9th2003.
Foreness Point, Kent, November 11th-17th November 2011.
Holy Island, Northumberland, November 16th-21st 2011.
Scalby, Yorkshire, November 29th November–December 3rd 2014.
St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, November 30th, 2014 - January 12th 2015.
Easington, Yorkshire, October 25th 2016; other birds were identified in autumn 2016 after the Donna Nook individual and were in Cleveland, Lothian, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Cornwall.
Reference
Holt, C. and the Rarities Committee. (2017). Report on rare birds in Great Britain in 2016. British Birds 110(10): 562-631.
Lorand, S.(2016). Eastern Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros phoenicuroides/rufiventris/xerophilus: first record for Lincolnshire at Donna Nook on 26th-28th October 2016. Lincolnshire Bird Report 2016: 244-5.
Stoddart, A. (2016). ‘Eastern Black Redstart’ – new to Britain. British Birds 109: 211-219.
(Account prepared November 2017; includes records to 2016)