They're back...........Yippeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!
Out and about on the local patch for a couple of hours this afternoon, first up was a brief view of a small flock (c20) redwings overhead, then as we were heading home spotted some chaffinches drinking from a puddle in the lane, thought a couple of them looked a bit 'on the large size' so a quick look with the binoculars confirmed Fieldfares, obviously a bit thirsty after a long trip. There was a flock of 12 in all and spent several minutes watching them dart in and out of the hedges.
Autumn is definitely here now..........hopefully off to Titchwell and Cley over the next couple of days to see what else has thrown itself at the Norfolk coast.
"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag" Mary Poppins
Great news ND!! Still not seen any here but then I'm in an office all day (although I do spend a fair amount of time looking out of the window...)
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
Woooooooohoooooooooooo! Just seen a small flock fly past the office window!! :-) :-)
MarJus Woooooooohoooooooooooo! Just seen a small flock fly past the office window!! :-) :-)
Glad to hear they're back, small feeding flock on the local patch at the weekend, also noticable that blackbird numbers have increased in the same area, clearly migrants as at the moment they are much more timid than the ones in the garden, I am sure that as winter grips us they will start to frequent the gardens.
Even our Little Egret has returned to the river (assume it was one of the 3 that was about last winter), haven't seen it all summer.
Walking this morning towards the Callow from Pontesbury/Minsterley Road and we saw a flock of approx 30 Redwings flying over - AT LAST!!! They were all chattering as they went - FANTASTIC!
That's great Lucy! I've seen a few more smaller flocks about! Looking forward to seeing them a bit more!!
The first big wave of fieldfares were reported this morning, with c.3,000 through Holme NWT in Norfolk in a 15 minute period. Very late to appear in anything other than small groups this autumn, they're now on their way.
Possibly accompanying them will be occasional, straggling ring ouzels on their way to their Mediterranean wintering grounds - it has been a very poor autumn for these charismatic thrushes.
ATB,
Darren
Leave only footprints, kill only time.
Most mornings during autumn, I visit a site close to home in Cambridgeshire called Croydon Hill. From this elevated vantage point, I stand and scan along the ridge and valley for birds visibly migrating (known to hard-core enthusiasts as ''vis-migging'')
This morning's 'vis-mig' exercise was truly mind-blowing. Between 6:30 and 8 o'clock, I counted 1,466 fieldfare, 1,073 redwing and 213 chaffinch migrating west through the valley (amongst others). I even had two migrating dunnocks!
I must have missed thousands of birds, because they were moving along the ridge and through the valley in prodigous numbers and at various heights and distances - I really did need eyes in the back of my head!
Seven or eight miles along the ridge, four colleagues were also counting. With their extra eyes, they counted 2,808 fieldfare and 2,463 redwing, so we had remarkably similar rations of fieldfare to redwing.
They were still moving when we left, so if you have a chance, get to some high ground and soak up the truly awe inspring spectacle of migration. To think, most of these birds were somewhere over the North Sea last night!
If you need to practice your count estimate skills, you can do that here, but a warning - it is highly addictive!
Best wishes,
Wow! That's fantastic Darren! How is the best way to tell the difference between redwings and fieldfares in flight? On the ground, I can differentiate them due to the fieldfares grey head and I know that redwings do flash red in flight in the right light but are there any other pointers please?
And another question! How do you know that the flock of chaffies (or any other bird for that matter) were migrating, and not just moving about in their daily foraging activities?
Think I'll leave that link 'til later! Lol!! With an 'addicitve' warning like that I'm bound to get hooked!
Hello MarJus,
The two species have different silhouettes and flight actions. Fieldfares are larger and appear rather chunky, pot-bellied and long-tailed in comparison to redwings, which are altogether more compact and short-tailed.
Redwings also fly with with faster wingbeats, whereas fieldfares can be quite 'stuttering' and more 'flappy' in flight. The pale rump and underwing of fieldfares is another good identification feature.
Best wishes
MarJus Wow! That's fantastic Darren! How is the best way to tell the difference between redwings and fieldfares in flight? On the ground, I can differentiate them due to the fieldfares grey head and I know that redwings do flash red in flight in the right light but are there any other pointers please? And another question! How do you know that the flock of chaffies (or any other bird for that matter) were migrating, and not just moving about in their daily foraging activities? Think I'll leave that link 'til later! Lol!! With an 'addicitve' warning like that I'm bound to get hooked!
**Excellent**! Thank you Darren! That's very helpful! Maybe once I've got used to working out which is which, I might even get to count them!! Lol!
hi Darren
Thank you for all of the latest information about the migrating birds.
I do not stay too far away from Cambridge and must make a point of visiting the reserves in that area at a point of time.
Great all round information and it is goos to hear al about it.
Love the expression 'vis-mig' - never heard of it until now
Regards
Kathy and Dave
They’ve just arrived here. I was sitting having coffee and a flock of 200+ landed in the trees lining the orchard. I leave the windfalls for them, when they arrive it takes them a couple of days to clear a good few hundred apples. Picking up windfalls is back breaking work so when nature does it for me it’s just fantastic (and fabulous to watch).
Life is too short to waste.
Wildlife friendly They’ve just arrived here. I was sitting having coffee and a flock of 200+ landed in the trees lining the orchard. I leave the windfalls for them, when they arrive it takes them a couple of days to clear a good few hundred apples. Picking up windfalls is back breaking work so when nature does it for me it’s just fantastic (and fabulous to watch).
Wow, you're very own persona; wildlife spectacle.
They're really spreading through the country now, I think there has been another influx, reports of several large flocks hitting the East coast last weekend and in the early part of this week.
I have net seen any Redwings, Fieldfares or Thrushes in my own area this year so far.
On the A14 road in the way to Bury St Edmunds on Saturday morning I saw a farm field full of Thrushes of all types while I was in the car (passenger of course)
So it looks although they are around as people have already pointed out