Scarlet tanager sighting helps raise £300 for Children in Need

Birdwatchers keen to catch a glimpse of a rare bird have helped raise nearly £300 for Children in Need after one homeowner asked for donations to use his back garden.

The scarlet tanager has attracted hundreds of people from across the UK to a quiet cul-de-sac in Shelf, near Halifax, since it arrived earlier in the week.

Resident Oliver Patchett said he decided to make the most of the opportunity by offering up his garden to anyone willing to make a donation to charity.

He said charging people £10 each was “a bit of fun” to help raise some money for a good cause.

Mr Patchett said: “This kind of thing is not usual for this area, as it’s just a quiet road.

“There were a few sightings yesterday and then very early this morning, so this lot have been waiting a long time

“It’s also cold today while yesterday it was sunny, but I’ve left everyone to get on with it and go on my lawn as it’s all for charity.”

Enthusiasts have travelled from as far as Weybridge, Newcastle and London in the hope of spotting the rare visitor, which was first spotted perched on a garden washing line.

The songbird normally travels between the eastern United States and lowland South American forests twice a year.

According to Cornell University's All about Birds website, the male breeding birds have a bright red body and black wings and tails, while females and juvenile birds have a yellowish-green body.

It is usually the duller yellowish birds which are spotted in the UK, having been swept off course by storms as they migrate south in the autumn, the website said.

Website Bird Guides said on X that the bird is a “first-winter male scarlet tanager” and has never been seen before in Yorkshire.

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