Apart from size estimate being ''blackbird size'', location, flight and colour description, makes Pied Flycatcher a good possibility
fritter, I think perhaps you may have misread deborah4's suggestion of Pied Flycatcher? It sounds like quite a good match from your description. Pictures in the gallery here.i am not an 'enthusiast' but have been watching birs in an informal way for 40 years, it is not a pied wagtail, i regularly watch them roosting. besides the flight of the PW is distinctive. the flight was unusual but difficult to pin down, i'd say it had some of the characteristics of a flycatcher kind of mid air stumbly hover.
What a handsome bird. Are they common in Britain?
What a handsome bird. Are they common in Britain?
What a handsome bird. Are they common in Britain?
Summer visitors, more common in SW England ie. Devon, where they breed - we just get them as passage migrant further along the South Coast UK, ie. Sussex
Great minds eh?
the flight was unusual but difficult to pin down, i'd say it had some of the characteristics of a flycatcher kind of mid air stumbly hover.