As has been recently mentioned on regional listservs, the UK has been experiencing some harsh and early wintry weather. This has coincided with the appearance of two Northern Lapwings here in New England. Are the two events related? If so, are there more Lapwings to be found? What about other European species such as Redwing and Fieldfare?
This may sound familiar. Last winter was notably long and harsh in the UK, particularly in January. Redwings and Fieldfares were noted in great numbers in the western UK, which fueled speculation about a possible European invasion...which never materialized.
But at least this time we have some local evidence of a possible connection between harsh western European weather and North American vagrants.
Dennis Elphick notes "Easterlies have been prevailing on and off in the UK since September and back in October Red-flanked Bluetails, Red-breasted Flycatchers, Yellow-browed and Pallas' Warblers, Wryneck, etc were turning up on the East coast in unprecedented numbers. Starlngs began to arrive from eastern Europe in mid-October, a month earlier than usual and my own observations included streams and streams of birds arriving in Norfolk and Kent during the last week Oct/first week of Nov."
Thanks Dennis for the info.
This is something to keep in mind not only for the immediate future but throughout the winter.
Follow these links for last winter's posts about Lapwings and European thrushes.