This is a Black Redstart. It is about the same size as a Robin.
It is a rara avis in the UK. There are only about fifty breeding pairs but the population is swelled in winter when about 500 are seasonal visitors. Where might you see a black redstart?
“Breeding birds occur mainly in urban areas of Greater London, Birmingham and the Black Country with a few pairs in Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Ipswich, and the odd pair at cliff sites and power stations along the south coast between Suffolk and Dorset.
There is a good spring passage of black redstarts through the UK and Ireland and they can turn up anywhere, but particularly at the coast. On return passage in autumn, they can be relatively numerous in places like the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall. In winter, a small number are found from Lancashire and Lincolnshire southwards, and along the south coast.” (RSPB website)
I have not seen one and if I have wouldn’t have identified it but Nathalie Mahieu has. You will recall she keeps an eye on the peregrine falcons. They have been shuffling round in their nesting box; the technical term is courtship displays. Yesterday, when they were out, they had a visitor – a black redstart. It spent about thirty minutes, did a pooh and flew at the camera probably to catch a spider, she reports.
If you’d like to see a better picture, John Chapple is your man. He made this film a few days ago at Newlyn in Cornwall and posted it on his YouTube channel.