Did I see a red-breasted flycatcher at RSPB St. Aidan's on Sunday?

An early arrival female wheatear perhaps..probably best wait for the experts for their fabulous knowledge and suggestions ;-)

Post edit...chiffchaff..??

I watch the Yorkshire rare bird pages and nothing has been mentioned so far but that only means that one has not been reported. I think early Redstart could be your best bet.

See now you have the experts talking sense....better than my nonsense ;-)

Thanks Pete. You may well be right about early redstart. I think I'll hold off ticking anything off my list until there's been a confirmed sighting elsewhere. Can you let me know where I can keep tabs on the Yorkshire rare bird pages? I live in Sheff, so would be good to keep myself updated of what's in the area!

Thanks for the response Linda! I definitely don't think female wheatear is a nonsense suggestion! We did consider that possibility but I think we would have noticed the dark stripe near the eye. So, we ruled that one out.

You say that you saw it 'briefly' yet watched it for a minute - a minute is a long time to watch a bird.

You also say that you thought it was smaller than a Robin but what were you judging its size by? If there was nothing near to the bird then it's hard trying to judge the size of a lone bird.

You've had some good answers here but I'm afraid that as a 'sighting' it will just have to be put down as an unknown - doesn't matter if someone says 'yes definitely a Red Breasted Flycatcher' because they didn't see it.

Evidence in the field goes something like this - an experienced birder with a good record and is well-known to the birding community will most probably be trusted as to what he saw. A birder without that credibility will not.

It's one of those occasions when a record shot would have really helped - but I'm sorry, it's just impossible to say and it's just as unfair to guess.

When narrowing down possibilities you have to look at the plain evidence that we have - and if that evidence is telling you that it's too early for some birds, and its location is rare and it hasn't been reported then that is telling you that you most likely didn't see a RBF.

But well done on identifying a lot of the bird's details - but its behaviour and any calls would have helped too.

As the good guys usually say gotta take into consideration the lighting..where it was and was there anything there to compare it with...I shall bow out and leave you with the knowledgeable ones...good luck ;-)

I was only wondering if someone else had seen something similar in the area, or if they can provide a better suggestion that I can confirm for myself by judging pictures. I'm not asking for someone to confirm it for me from a description, obviously. As for the time thing, when I say 'briefly' I guess I'm thinking relative to the other birds I'd seen that day, which were predominantly waterfowl, So, I was able to watch them for much longer periods. I didn't have a stop-clock on me, and I don't know how good I am at judging short-periods of time, but I know it was long enough for me to get a good look at it and note down the details provided with high confidence. It wasn't like I was able to pull out the field guide/google there and then though, as I was with other birds I'd seen that day. I am aware it is hard to judge a lone bird's size but long-tailed tit were in the same area as it flitted off, so I was able to use them as a comparison. I also know that using contextual information is important when narrowing down possibilities, which is why I am not rushing to any conclusions and why I am very confused as to what I saw. As the identifying features + context leaves me with no obvious answer, as there are good arguments against all the likely candidates. As Pete follows Yorkshire rare bird pages, and nothing has been reported, I am not making the assumption it's a RBF. I'd have just ticked it off my list and not bothered posting if I was jumping to that conclusion. You may well be right that this one will end up in the unknown column though.

Thanks Linda. Yeah, I did consider lighting. Initially, I thought the breast was a bright pink, similar to a bullfinch. However, there was strong sunlight shining onto its breast which makes me think that would have made it appear lighter? Oh well, as Bailey said this one will probably have to be chalked up as an unknown.

Och well not to worry there's always next time ;-).....camera at the ready always lol....if a didn't have my camera always a wouldn't even mind half of what I'd seen never mind a description ;-)