Redwing and berries

This lone Redwing feeding on cotoneaster berries in the park did not lose track of the sky above. When feeding alone, birds have to keep watch more often than when in flocks.

Mistle thrushes sharing the turf

There is a resident pair of Mistle Thrushes in my local park. The resident male has been singing occasionally since the end of November from a high post on the tallest trees. Mistle Thrushes' song is reminiscent of the Blackbird's but with shorter, more repetitive, mournful phrases that carry quite far. Up to five birds gathered on the grass before Christmas, and when the snow arrived the locals birds had to share the few clear patches of turf under the trees with a flock of immigrant Redwings and a lone Fieldfare in search of earthworms and other invertebrates. Mistle Thrushes are large and bossy, and if the other thrushes get too close, they are chased away without trouble. Resident birds have a head start in the breeding season. They know their patch and as soon as conditions are right they can start nesting right away.
 The male was singing again in the last few days without snow, while the female fed on the grass.

Mistle Thrush and Fieldfare

Mistle Thrush, Redwing (back) and Fieldfare (foreground)

The pair feeding on the snow

Male singing yesterday

Spot us

I watched is a local flock of Redwing in a wooded area with clearings. I counted 12, feeding together on the ground, but keeping some distance in a loose flock. They behave very differently to Blackbirds, more wary and watchful, ready to fly silently up to the trees if they are disturbed. One of the birds was feeding amongst leaves, it had dug itself into a hole and enthusiastically pecked leaves aside looking for invertebrates - in very much Blackbird style. Redwings are so cryptic, even when sitting on grass they can pass for a fallen leaf, it's only when you stop and watch that their sudden movements make then apparent. Then you spot not only one, but the ground comes alive revealing the whole flock of Redwings.

Can you see the Redwing?

Making the best of bad weather

Birds have a range of behaviours to cope with the cold. Many - Swallows, Cuckoo, many warblers - avoid it altogether by migrating to warmer latitudes well ahead of winter, these are birds exploiting resources that are virtually non-existing in the winter such as caterpillars or flying insects. Others undergo more regional migrations, often depending on the local conditions. Here, surprisingly, there are many British species, which move south to the continent, and at the same time come to the UK from colder areas like Fennoscandia, these would include the Robin or the Blackcap. Yet another group of species simply change their habitat preferences. Some species that are found in mountain areas move down to the plains in the winter, species that feed on freshwater lakes and ponds in the summer move to the coast, where water does not freeze in the winter (Grebes and Kingfishers do this). There are a fourth group of species which change their food habits with cold weather. The Blackbird and other thrushes switch to feeding on berries when the ground is too hard to hunt for earthworms. I probably haven't exhausted the options and several of them are not mutually exclusive. For example, the Swift, a summer migrant from Africa, also undergoes substantial regional migrations in avoidance of poor weather. In addition, some of these options are only taken depending on the local conditions. The Waxwing's irruptions, when birds normally inhabitants of northern Europe, reach the UK and western Europe, happen in response to poor berry crops in the rowan of their native forests, and then to happen at irregular intervals. The last one of such invasions happened during the winter of 2008-2009.
  In the last few days, I have noticed couple of species which I don't see very often within the city have become more common. One of them is the Pied Wagtail, the other the Redwing. The first one belong to the  habitat switchers, the Pied Wagtail is most often found in gardens and towns during the winter. With its constant tail bobbing and its frantic running and direction-changing motion in chase of minute insects and bugs, to get a decent photo in the gloomy dark days we've had lately is a challenge. The Redwings, which migrate into the UK in the winter from northern Europe, feed on grassy areas - or berries - in loose flocks, they are quite wary and the photos are also not good.

Two Redwings