Hundreds race to Bempton Cliffs for a once-in-34-years bird: would you recognise a rare needletail?

Car parks filled, binoculars lifted and message groups lit up as Yorkshire skies drew watchers from towns hours away.

The stir began when a dark, scythe-winged shape cut across a reservoir and then headed for the coast. Within minutes, whispers turned into a stampede of tripods and telephoto lenses, as Britain’s birding network did what it does best: mobilise fast.

A first in 34 years

A white-throated needletail, a heavyweight among swifts and usually seen in Asia and Australia, stunned observers at Tophill Low Nature Reserve in East Yorkshire. Visitors Mandy Gregory and Ray Maddison first noticed the distinctive silhouette on Wednesday afternoon. Staff confirmed the identification after reviewing images, and word spread at speed.

First English sighting since 1991, and only the second ever noted in Yorkshire.

The phones at the warden base lit up. Vehicles began to queue. Within an hour, roughly 50 people were on site, scanning the air over the waterworks lagoons. By the evening, the bird had also been seen at RSPB Bempton Cliffs near Bridlington, where towering chalk headlands offered panoramic views of a heaving sky.

Hundreds gathered at Bempton Cliffs by nightfall, hoping for a clean pass along the cliff edge.

Tophill Low’s team rate the event among the reserve’s most remarkable in decades. Only the 2008 Amur falcon edges it on rarity value locally. The site has form for surprises: last year a pair of blue-winged teal, a North American species, dropped in and caused a smaller stir among county listers.

What sets a needletail apart

The white-throated needletail is a bulky, muscular swift. It screams power in level flight. Birders sometimes call it a “flying cigar” for its barrelled body and long, sabre-like wings. The bright throat patch can flash in the right light, while tiny tail spines give the species its name.

• Shape: thick, bullet-shaped body with long, curved wings; blunt tail compared with common swift.
• Markings: pale throat; otherwise dark, soot-brown body that can appear almost black against cloud.
• Flight: relentless, fast, purposeful; often low over water or ridgelines where insects rise.
• Size: larger and heavier than a common swift; presence feels “bigger” in the air.

Watch the wind. Needletails often track insect-rich air, working along edges where warm updrafts meet cooler layers.

Why it might be here

Vagrancy often follows weather. Strong easterlies, extended high-pressure systems and bands of rain can steer aerial insectivores off course. A bird that typically follows dragonflies and beetles above Asian forests may ride the same wind highway across continents. Early summer insect blooms over reservoirs and sea cliffs make Yorkshire a sensible pit stop if you are a hungry swift with miles behind you.

The moment the message landed

On Wednesday afternoon, the first photographs reached staff at Tophill Low. The features were clear enough to sound the alarm. Social feeds relayed the news. Cars began to arrive. Visitors formed neat lines along the banking, swapping sightings and settings. Then the call went out from Bempton: the bird had shifted east, and the headland crowds swelled as daylight softened.

Reserve staff managed paths and views to keep people moving and wildlife calm. The bird remained mobile, slicing back and forth as if testing the wind along the cliff face. Migrants often hold to a loop, and the watchers learned the circuit after a few passes.

Keeping wildlife first

Rarity fever can overrun a fragile site. Birders and photographers at both locations kept to marked routes and respected fences. That matters, because both reserves hold breeding species at this time of year, from barn owls in boxes to ground-nesting waders on quiet margins.

• Stay on paths and viewing platforms; avoid reedbeds and fenced dunes.
• Park in designated areas to prevent blocking farm and staff access.
• Keep distance from perches and nest sites; long lenses do the work.
• Turn off playback and drones; both disturb wildlife and other visitors.

Tophill Low’s growing roll of rarities

Set within a working water site, Tophill Low has a mix of habitats that pull in migrants: open water, scrub, shelterbelts and insect-rich edges. That variety delivers surprise visitors, sometimes out of the blue and sometimes after a spell of telling weather.

What it means for birders and locals

Rarities create a burst of trade for cafés, B&Bs and petrol stations. Bempton’s cliff-top paths carried steady footfall into the evening. At Tophill Low, the visitor centre fielded nonstop queries about best viewpoints and likely return loops. Staff at both sites balanced access with care, keeping sensitive areas quiet while still giving hundreds a view.

Events like this also widen interest. Many visitors had never heard of a needletail. They left with a sharper eye for swifts, a better grasp of wind patterns, and a plan to check reservoirs near home the next warm evening.

How you can give yourself a chance

Fast-moving rarities reward patience and a method. You raise your odds by timing and place. You also need a clear idea of what sets the species apart at a glance.

• Go when insects lift: warm, calm evenings after rain can produce aerial feeding frenzies.
• Work edges: dam walls, cliff faces and ridgelines focus wind and insects.
• Use optics wisely: a wide-field binocular view often beats a long zoom for a fast bird.
• Log your sightings with time and direction; patterns often emerge within an hour.

Behind the headline: the bird itself

The white-throated needletail spends most of its life in the air. It drinks on the wing, feeds on the wing and roosts on steep faces where predators struggle to follow. Its tail spines help it grip when it does land. It hunts large flying insects and can cover long distances to track hatches. That lifestyle leaves the species sensitive to shifts in insect abundance, which weather and land use can change within days.

Could climate trends bring more needletails to Britain? No one can promise that. Blocks of stable high pressure across Eurasia can increase the chances of long overshoots. Strong tailwinds do the rest. Records still sit far apart, which is why Yorkshire’s bird sent so many running for their car keys.

If you scanned the sky this week, you joined a line of watchers reaching back 34 years to the last English sighting.

If you missed it, what to do next

Watch for similar conditions over the next few weeks. Check your nearest large reservoir on warm evenings. Learn the common swift well, then look for a bird that feels bigger, bolder and faster, with a flash of pale at the throat. Rarity days start as quietly as a single shape against cloud, and they often belong to the person who keeps looking when others have packed up.

If you want to widen your skills, try a simple exercise: pick a busy swift flock over water and time how long a single bird stays in view during one pass. Note height, direction and where insects collect. Repeat at different sites. Your fieldcraft grows, and you stand a better chance the next time a needletail slices through British air.