Until recently it was the red kite which attracted serious birders to Mid-Wales. The spectacular success of the reintroductions of this iconic species to England, Scotland and Ireland mean this is no longer the case. Today keen bird watchers are drawn by the redstart and the pied flycatcher . . .
As with so many songbirds, these spend the winter months in Sub-Saharan Africa. It returns to northern Europe in spring along with its commoner relative, the spotted flycatcher. The latter loves urban gardens, usually nesting on ledges such as window sills. In contrast the pied flycatcher is a cavity nester which explains why its British strongholds are the hanging oak woods of Wales and Scotland. Here it is often found in conjunction with two other comparative rarities, the wood warbler and the redstart (see www.fungiforays.co.uk/redstart ).
The bird gets its name from the characteristic two-tone plumage of the male (females are a more muted brown and white). This makes it highly-visible around the nest site in May and early June, but once its clutch of 5 – 7 chicks have fledged, it becomes remarkably elusive, retreating to spend most of the rest of the summer hunting insects high in the canopy or moving to hunt flies along the coast. Then in late September or early October the last of them leave our shores to fly across the Bay of Biscay on the long trek south.
