There was great excitement in Aldeburgh on Saturday when news broke of an Arctic redpoll feeding on the shingle beach just south of the town. As their name suggests, Arctic redpolls breed in the extreme northern extremities of Eurasia and North America. They are rare visitors to the UK.
As ever in birdwatching, though, it's not quite that simple. There are actually two different races of Arctic redpoll, which go by the names of Coue's and Hornemann's Arctic redpolls. Coue's is the commoner race in England, where it often joins flocks of lesser redpolls (the species that breeds in the UK) and common or mealy redpolls (from Scandinavia) feeding with siskins and goldfinches in the tops of alders. Hornemann's breeds in Greenland and Arctic Canada. It occurs regularly in the northern isles (Shetland and Orkney) and occasionally on other islands (e.g. Outer Hebrides, Farnes) but is a very rare visitor to mainland Britain. The Aldeburgh bird is a Hornemann's Arctic redpoll - hence the excitement.
Aldeburgh's Hornemann's Arctic redpoll by Jon Evans (see here for more photos by Robin Harvey)
It's often difficult to pick out Coue's Arctic redpolls among mixed finch flocks, especially with some neck-craning involved. The Aldeburgh bird is feeding on yellow horned-poppy seeds among the shingle on the beach at Slaughden, opposite the Aldeburgh Yacht Club, making it much easier to spot. It's been a very obliging bird, often approaching patient birdwatchers, who may be the first people it has ever seen.
I popped down to Aldeburgh at lunchtime to see this gorgoeus bird. Amazingly, it was in exactly the same spot as another Arctic visitor - a first winter ivory gull - was seen in December 1999. That too attracted large crowds of birdwatchers and twitchers.
Meanwhile, at North Warren, the flock of European white-fronted geese has increased to 60, and there are hundreds of ducks feeding on the marshes. A couple of tundra bean geese were seen earlier in the winter, but have moved on. Five are currently dividing their time between Minsmere and fields near Westleton instead. If you want to watch the ducks and geese, there are good views of South Marshes from the Thorpe Road car park in Aldeburgh, of both South and North Marsh from the central path heading inland from the sluice cottage, and from a few places along the old railway. There's also great views of North Marsh from our new viewing platform that is accessed from the old railway - see Annette's recent blog.