For some strange reason, there are no orange bellied parrots in the UK
at the moment.
Regards, Laurie.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=477240
Climate change and transatlantic winds bring the exotic North American
birds
By Brian Unwin
01 January 2004
Exotic birds from distant corners of the world are enriching the
midwinter wildlife of the British Isles. The main attraction will be
the Baltimore oriole, an orange-yellow breasted songbird, that should
be enjoying the heat of tropical Venezuela but accidentally flew across
the Atlantic to Oxford.
People of Northfield Road, Headington, on the city's outskirts, are
feeding the bird through the winter with of sunflower seeds and orange
segments and thousands of twitchers have come to see it.
And an American robin, a blackbird-sized bird with brick red
underparts, continues to pull crowds at Godrevy Point, near Hayle,
Cornwall. An American coot, which also made an unscheduled ocean
crossing, is the big focus of interest on Loch of Clickimin, near
Lerwick, Shetland.
"It is extremely unusual to have three such rare visitors to Britain
present simultaneously at this time of year and they will be in
particular demand", said Lee Evans, known as the "twitcher king" after
setting a record for the largest number of different birds seen in
Britain in a year. When they disappeared it could be years before there
are further chances to see these species in Britain
Mr Evans, of Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, who runs the UK400
twitcher organisation, added: "And there are many other birds you
wouldn't normally expect to see here in winter, perhaps through climate
change giving us milder weather, so this means this is one of the best
starts to a year." The most determined twitchers are starting at
Oxford, seeing the oriole after daybreak then make a 200-mile dash to
Cornwall to catch up with the American robin.
If all goes well, they will then have the chance of three other species
from North America, an American wigeon, a green-winged teal and a
lesser yellowlegs which are all in the nearby Hayle estuary. South-west
England offers an even greater range of rare or unusual birds,
including a great white egret at New Alresford, Hampshire, and two more
American ducks, a lesser scaup at Studland Little Sea, Dorset, and a
surf scoter off Loe Beach near Helston, Cornwall.
There are also several Siberian songbirds which should be in South-East
Asia: a rare dusky warbler in the Clennon Valley, Paignton, Devon, and
yellow-browed warblers at Branscombe, Devon, Lytchett Bay, Dorset,
Titchfield Haven, Hampshire, and Berrow, Somerset.
More yellow-browed warblers are in the Midlands, at Colwick country
park, near Radcliffe, Nottinghamshire, at Bloxwith, West Midlands and
Upton Warren, Worcestershire. Two more are in the South- east,
Stodmarsh, near Canterbury, Kent, and Chichester gravel pits, West
Sussex.
Another big draw in Kent is the birds of prey assembly on the Isle of
Sheppey's Harty Marshes including a rough-legged buzzard from the
Arctic, 20 marsh harriers and eight hen harriers. In East Anglia, there
have also been rough-legged buzzard sightings at Burnham Market and
Holkham.
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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