Good views of male Black Redstart this afternoon (2pm), on south side of Lincoln cathedral, near Galilee Porch.

Terry & Eileen.

Black Redstart present again this afternoon, about 1pm, active around Galilee Porch area, as last Saturday!
Also a Grey Wagtail and Peregrine, both on south face.

Terry & Eileen.

After 2 previous unsucessful visits and nearly 4 hours of searching(!) i finally caught up with this little blighter today.............and was immediately struck by the appearance of the bird,
It showed a considerable amount of red on the lower/mid belly area which as a rule BR never show, also it had restricted white wing flashes and in certain lights, a pale forehead......i contacted some locals and was soon joined by Grahame Hopwood and Andy Sims who both agreed it looked interesting.
I've forwarded images to people who know better than me and at the moment the consensus is that it is of one of the Eastern forms, probably ochruros or an intergrade. A Black Redstart x Redstart hybrid is also not out of the question........
A smart and very educational bird whatever it turns out to be

Regards

Dean

After a few blank visits, I managed to have excellent views of the Black Redstart from c12.40 - 1.00pm today. It was showing very well on the South side of the Cathedral around the scaffolding area (no work in progress). Half a dozen contented birders there!
Also Peregrine on the SW Tower, and a very confiding Song Thrush around.

Regards,

Freddy

Black Redstart still showing well this afternoon but it was almost like I was looking at a different bird to yesterday. It could have been the light or the fact that I was only using binoculars, I had biked up without my scope, but it did not appear to show any red on the underparts and Mick Paine who was also there this afternoon and yesterday felt the same. Two photos, on Birdguides, taken by Dave Goddard do not seem to show any red on the underparts. Could there be two birds?
Both Peregrines flew in whilst I was there, calling loudly. The female landed on the nesting platform with the male on a gargoyle above her.

Can anyone post some pics on here so we can look at the possibility of two birds ??

Trev

I visited the cathedral this afternoon and had great views,I could not detect any rufous/red on it's underparts in superb light.Having previously seen some superb photos on Stephen Botham's birding blog,[www.boulthamere.blogspot.com],I too was pondering the idea of a 2nd bird.The bird I saw today looked different,mind you I did only have my crappy van bins with me.
Also Peregrine and Grey wagtail.

Dave.

This two bird theory may well be true.....the photo's on birdguides certainly seem to show different birds.
Also, On Sunday morning myself and Nicola was watching the BR picking off spiders from near the top of the main tower (on the East face) and within about 20-30 seconds of it disappearing around the North face near the top, Nicola spotted it (or another?) actually hopping around on the grass on the SE corner.......we joked at the time that there must have been two birds but dismissed the idea as 2 birds were never seen together at any time. It must have moved bloody quick to have got from A to B undetected. With hindsight we now believe there really was 2 birds.

Dean

Just had a look at the pics on Birdguides, there are clearly two birds there as one is a Male and the other is a Female, with the Male bird showing the rufous belly.

Trev

No sign of any Black Redstarts 12:00-14:15 although the weather was far from ideal.
Ric Bennet saw the fem type earlier albeit only briefly.
Both Pegs present on E face of main tower.

Dean

Good scope views today, and I agree with other determinations that

this bird could of the form ochuros.

Also seen the resident pair of Peregrines being agitated by another male and a

Grey Wagtail.

Male Black Redstart still present on south face this afternoon, at about 2.30.
Also Peregerine on main tower.
Terry & Eileen.

No sign of any Black Redstarts this afternoon, Mon 8th, but both Peregrines roosting on south side of main tower and 1 Grey Wagtail.

Black redstart showing well 1.00-1.15pm today. Often sitting on scaffold poles on S.side

Ian Birch

2 Black Redstarts this morning from 1015, the duller female type only seen briefly.

The 1st winter male showed very well (SE corner) from our arrival but at approx 11am it moved over into the Bishop's Palace area, where I suppose it may have been hiding when others have not managed to connect with it on previous days.

Cheers

Steve and Terry