'We've had more visitors in two days than 30 years'

Birdwatchers from across the UK descended on the quiet cul-de-sac in Shelf keen to catch a glimpse of the scarlet tanager

When news a rare American songbird had been spotted in a sleepy West Yorkshire cul-de-sac eager ornithologists converged on the quiet street faster than a falcon in free fall.

But for the long term residents of Shelf - previously only known as the home of Blue Peter presenter John Noakes and interior designer Linda Barker - the arrival of a scarlet tanager brought a spotlight on the village and a "crazy" influx of visitors.

While some complained about the parking and disruption to the bin round, others said they were excited to see the village put on the map.

Peter Flesher, who lives on Bridle Dene, is yet to see the winged visitor

"There’s been more strange people on this road in two days than in the whole of the 30 years," Peter Flesher told me.

The 82-year-old, who has lived on Bridle Dene for three decades, said most of the visitors had been respectful, though he described the excitement as “a pain in the whatsit”.

“To be fair, they’ve been nice people and they’ve not caused us any trouble," he said.

“We have two granddaughters who live over there and they were a bit perturbed by having 200 people staring at their house. But no, they were very good.”

News of the arrival of the scarlet tanager - more usually found in the forests of North America - broke last weekend, sending birdwatchers into a state of excitement.

According to some reports the sighting in West Yorkshire is the first in the UK in 10 years and only the eighth recorded in this country.

Mr Flesher said he had been out to speak to some of the bird watchers and had met people from as far away as Glasgow.

“I can’t believe these people. They have come up from Kent, Cornwall and one chap said he had come from Cambridge.

“The whole road was full.”

Residents created homemade signs to direct visiting birdwatchers

Another long-term resident, Tony Gregson, 90, has lived on the road for 40 years.

He said he first spotted the bird in his garden way back in September.

“It’s been here weeks,” he said.

“It was on the bird feeder and I said to my sister 'what’s that bird?’ - it must have been five or six weeks since and everybody turned up."

Mr Gregson says he has had people knocking on his door and asking to try to catch a glimpse from his garden, but felt that was a step too far.

“They wanted to come into the back garden and I said ‘no’ because you don’t know what they’re doing. But they’ve been alright.

“They were very friendly really. Very nice people."

Stewart Short came to Shelf from Cambridgeshire twice to see the bird

Among those to make the pilgrimage to West Yorkshire was Stewart Short from Cambridgeshire.

He said his visit to Shelf on Thursday was his second trip up and a second attempt to see one of his bucket-list birds.

“I heard about it last weekend,” he said

“I was here on Tuesday but I’ve not seen the bird, that’s why I’m back.”

But great adventures come with their own challenges – where does a twitcher go to the toilet for instance?

“Going to the toilet is sometimes difficult,” said Mr Short. “It’s a question of finding the right tree.”

Keen birdwatchers travelled miles for a glimpse of the scarlet tanager

Pauline, a birdwatcher from Gargrave, said it was more difficult for women.

“I watch out for places before we get anywhere – Tesco is good,” she told me.

Despite only travelling 25 miles for today's outing, Pauline has been as far as Devon for her birdwatching trips.

“We were looking for a Merlin. We didn’t see it though,” she said.

Julie King's daughter lives near where the bird was first spotted

Julie King, 78, who has lived in Shelf for 19 years, said the village had been "hectic" with traffic and parking the main problems.

“I’ve heard more car horns going – there might be more of that,” she said.

But, she thinks the visitors will be off again soon. And the road is much quieter than it was on Monday when between 200-300 people flocked to the scene.

“I thought it had gone," she said.

“I can’t see it flying all the way back to America though.”

Matthew and his wife have lived in Shelf for two years. They pass through Bridle Dene while walking their two dogs.

Despite saying he is "not a twitcher by any means”, he has brought along his binoculars and did catch a glimpse of the scarlet tanager earlier in the week.

The couple live on the other side of the village, so the crowds of people have not bothered them too much, but Matthew said he had heard rumblings of discontent from other residents.

“The car park has been full every day. Certainly the last few days it’s been crazy, much busier than normal.

“It’s a sleepy little village and not much goes on really.

“There’s obviously been some people who are excited that this bird’s been in town, and it’s great to see all these people, whereas other people have not really enjoyed the disruption.

“It’s been interesting for a sleepy little village like Shelf. To see Shelf on the national news is crazy.”

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