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

Snowy birds

It has been cold and snowy in the last few days. Berries that a couple of weeks ago were plentiful - are now in short supply, as the Blackbirds, Woodpigeons and thrushes have dug in. Flocks of thrushes are moving south to avoid the cold temperatures and entering parks and gardens. Birds used to feed on the ground have the added disadvantage of having their food under a layer of snow, and the ground hard and frosty. Blackbirds and Carrion Crows will persist if the snow is not too thick. They push the snow aside with their beaks to uncover their hidden morsels. The robin on the photo above looked a bit perplexed though.

Carrion crows searching on the snowy grass

This blackbird has dug himself a hole

Snow

A couple of crows searching for food in a patch of clear ground. The photo, illustrating bird behaviour in the current cold spell, was taken yesterday in the University grounds. Today the RSPB news release stated dramatically "Icy blast set to be millenium's greatest wildlife disaster". I wonder if they realised we are already in the new millennium (just 10 years into it!) and that climate warming was supposed to be THE wildlife disaster as far as we know anyway. I can entertain some theoretically possible, much more serious wildlife disasters: we could be stricken by an earth destroying meteorite and the Amazon might disappear entirely within the next 900 years). Climatic fluctuations, such as a spell of freezing, snowing conditions are natural phenomena which have shaped organisms behaviour for a long time. We cannot attempt to control this, as much as I am saddened by any bird losses due to cold weather, this is unavoidable and I am not sure that I would try and avoid it. Many animals are prepared for this, for example aquatic birds might undergo short migrations to the coast, where water is not frozen. Much as I appreciate that people are concerned about some endangered species that have recently been coached after much effort, to flourish (such as the Bittern), things can strech a bit too far. Central heated feeding stations? I don't think so.