OCTOBER can be one of the best months for birdwatchers as migrating birds from both the east and west get caught in adverse weather conditions and end up in the comparative safety of our islands.

One such arrival this October on the Suffolk coast was a Siberian blue robin, the first time this species has ever been recorded in Britain. It was found in coastal bushes near Minsmere by a young birdwatcher who was unsure of its identity.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology he was able to use his mobile phone to call a more experienced ornithologist, who recognised the species from his description and half a dozen birdwatchers were then able to see it before darkness descended. Unfortunately for the hundreds who arrived at dawn the next day, the bird had departed, never to be seen again.

In this area things weren't quite so interesting with a relatively quiet month for local birders. Highlight was probably the red-breasted goose seen associating with the large greylag flocks at both Nosterfield and Bolton-on-Swale. This is only the second local record of this striking goose but unfortunately it was almost certainly the same bird that was seen on the gravel pits around Harrogate earlier in the year and which was known to have escaped from a captive collection.

Nevertheless, it is a very handsome bird and well worth seeing. At the time of writing it seemed quite settled at Bolton-on-Swale gravel pits and may well spend the rest of the winter in this area.

The issue of birds escaping from captivity is quite a complex one. As a minimum they cloud the issue on what is a genuine wild bird but at worse they can cause unforeseen ecological problems.

Nothing illustrates this more clearly than the ruddy duck. Some birds were imported into Sir Peter Scott's collection at Slimbridge in the 60s. Small numbers escaped and breeding occurred soon after and since then they have slowly spread through the country, including to this area, with the first sighting in 1974 and the first local breeding in 1995.

In Britain this characterful duck has caused no significant problems as it fitted into an empty niche. However, as the population has grown a few birds have crossed to the continent and some have made it all the way to Spain.

Here a closely related, but much rarer, species, the white-headed duck, breeds. It now appears that the male white-headed duck is no match for the aggressive little ruddy duck and consequently hybrid breeding is now occurring which threatens the long term survival of the white-headed duck in Spain.

On a more positive note, Mandarin ducks, which were originally imported from China and Japan in the 19th century, escaped and established a stable breeding population in south-east England which is now one of the most important in the world as habitat loss has decimated populations in the Far East.

Turning back to local birds, other sightings during October included up to 80 pinkfooted geese and 42 shoveler at Bolton-on-Swale. The large curlew flock at this site attracted up to 29 knot, single whimbrel and bar-tailed godwit. At Scorton, good counts of grebes included 18 great-crested and 44 little, while at Nosterfield the first seven whooper swans of the winter were seen on the early date of the eighth