Mike’s post “Where will you be birding this first week of September” reminded me that while North American birders are looking forward to seeing catharus thrushes, grosbeaks, tanagers and wood-warblers etc, birders on this side of the Atlantic are looking forward to seeing, well…catharus thrushes, grosbeaks, tanagers, and - er, wood warblers actually. Yes, much of the western world is looking forward to waves of Nearctic migrants heading south and south-east over the next six weeks, and we will definitely be hoping for our fair share over here in the UK.

It may surprise some North American birders just how often Britain gets graced by birds from Canada and the US (in fact, eg two Yellow Warblers and a Northern Waterthrush were discovered in Ireland just this August). I gave up twitching back in the early nineties when I realised I was seeing most vagrants in their natural habitats through my airline job, but by then I’d already seen Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, Blackpoll, and Golden-winged Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Red-eyed Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Swainson’s and Grey-cheeked Thrushes in the UK (along with most eastern seaboard shorebirds, Green Heron, Bonaparte’s, Franklins, and Ring-billed Gulls, and both Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos). Virtually all of those appeared this side of the pond between September and October (as you’d suppose).

One species I’ve not seen here is one I’ve seen many times in North America now, but still imagine how wonderful it would feel if I was birding my local patch and noticed a plump, streaked, short-winged little bird strutting along the ground like a miniature chicken…I can but dream eh? (And for those of you wondering where these images were taken, sharp-eyed observers will already have noticed that there is a suggestion of shadow and sunshine and - even if I hadn’t told you I’d not seen an Ovenbird here - would have deduced that it’s not the UK. No, these were all taken last May in Chicago.)

Photos copyright Charlie Moores 2008