Big Redstart and Pied flycatcher migration in Britain

This is a video of a redstart nesting in a nestbox. Also about nestboxes: here.

From Wildlife Extra:

Redstarts and Pied flycatchers invade Britain

Huge numbers of migrant Redstarts and Pied flycatchers have been seen in on the east coast of Britain after arriving from North-eastern Europe and Scandinavia – the largest numbers for over a decade.

September 2008. Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers have been reported to the British Trust for Ornithology in large numbers via the BirdTrack online survey, which monitors the movements of birds throughout the country. Both Redstart and Pied Flycatcher migrate through Western Europe to wintering areas south of the Sahara. Redstarts spend the winter just south of the Sahara, and Pied Flycatchers in the forests around the Gulf of Guinea. In Britain they breed in the west and north.

Large numbers

The BirdTrack reporting rate for both species is around five times higher than in any year since the survey began in 2002. Mark Grantham, a population biologist running the BirdTrack survey, said, “Every autumn we see small numbers of these birds, but what has been unusual this year is the large numbers involved. South-east winds have drifted birds over the North Sea and birds have been seen at many coastal watch-points, but some of these birds are also making it inland. These have been seen in local parks and even in people’s gardens.

Nest boxes in Britain: here.