Rare visitors a real flight of fancy

HUGE excitement among the birding community and more ominous signs of climate change.

Birdwatchers at Crookhaven Bird Observatory — a rented house where a group of friends annually flock to observe the incoming autumn migrants — listed an all-time record of rare species. Normally, our rarities come from the Americas, carried on the prevailing westerly winds; this time, they come from the East, like the Magi, and are just as magical.

A high-pressure belt normally stable over Central Asia moved west.