Re: Redwing in my garden

AnitaTozer

Had a first sighting of a Redwing in my garden today - he very obliging sat still enough for me to check out what he was!  Maybe its all this snow that's encouraging them?  The garden is certainly very busy today (I have had to go out and top up the ground feeder and table twice already!) 

Me too, in my garden in  Bromley, Kent today. Thrilled to bits. Mine too, were very obliging as I scuttled off for bino's and birdbook. What lovely looking birds!  They seemed very keen on holly berries. I'm fairly new to birdwatching and it's giving me such pleasure. I'll try apples, sultanas and cheese tomorrow. Does anyone know if they like Emmental!?

During the cold snap we had several coming to our Garden.  There were large numbers of them in the area (lanner in cornwall) and I was seeing them openly wherever I walked.

Wonderful birds.

Hello EagleEye and Kevin. Hope you are enjoying the forum. So glad you both saw your visiting redwings. 

Throughout this year I have seen many redwings. both in my garden and at the Marazion RSPB reserve. On Saturday also caught a glimpse of a bittern. He had been there the previous week but remained very elusive. This morning I saw a long tailed tit, robin and lapwing at the same time. I did the RSPB count but was unable to put my resulte in. I understand that those near to me who back onto fields have seen many fieldfares and also yellow hammers and a golf finch. I seldom see many birds apart from gulls. magpies and rooks. There are also several squirrels who visit. This is disappointing. The birdfood usually goes off and has to be thrown away.

Hi

I have 2 large pyrocantha's and considered myself lucky to see 1 or 2 Redwings in the last few years enjoying the berry's.

This year both plants have produced a huge abundance of the fruit, then one morning I woke to see quite a few had gone. Later in the day I could not believe my eyes when I saw a FLOCK of birds in one of our tree's and then i noticed the red flanks and realised they were redwings.

Over the next 2-3 weeks at any one time I counted up to 50 of these lovely birds feasting on the berry's. It has been one of the highlights of this winter for me.

The 2 pairs of blackbirds in our garden eventually gave up trying to fight off the invasion !!!

My neighbour also reported seeing a snipe drop into his garden. What an amazing period this has been and I live in Cheam,Surrey !!

Spotted one in the front garden foraging in the snow  ( a week or so ago now) under the hedge having been driven off the apples by a pugnacious female blackbird. Presumably feeding on insects / grubs?

Hi,

I thought that I saw two redwings in my garden in early January.  I have 5 feeders and a birdtable and 10 free-range hens in a 3/4 acre mixed garden with plenty of berries, trees, hedges etc.  Sadly I was proved right in late January when the thaw set in and I found a frozen dead redwing under the snow.  Perhaps deepest West-Herefordshire is one step too far.

John

During the very cold spell I had a fieldfare turn up. I'd never seen one before, and was undecided as to whether it was an oddly marked thrush or a female blackbird, so I turned to the ID charts and was delighted to find out that I had a 'new' bird in the garden. Then the bird took over, it particularly enjoyed the windfall apples that I leave over winter for the blackbirds, the kitchen scraps, and the suet balls that I crumbled and put on the ground because of the harsh weather. It drove away the blackbirds, and had a spectacular scrap with a starling when the starling refused to back down over a bit of buttered toast.

Once the snow had gone, it left the garden, and I presume it's gone to the nearby farmland, but I did get quite used to glancing out of the study window and seeing it sitting in the plum tree, staring at me until I went outside with more food.

I'm pleased to report that the blackbirds have returned, and so has the songthrush

Hi There

We also had several Redwings visit our patch during the recent cold spell. It started with a pair which were regular visitors over two to three days and then the following four days or so we had counted upto 7 in total - they certainly made a good job of the berries from our southern boundary hedging of Pyracantha - they even out numbered our local Blackbird population. Practically NO berries left now!

John & Gina

No sooner had I read the email saying that Redwing & Fieldfare were being reported when a lone Fieldfare spent about ten minutes 'surveying' my garden, I will put out some fruit now I know what they like.

Thought it was a Thrush to begin with (I rarely see them in my garded) mainly Greenfinch & Blackbirds, but then saw the yellow beak.

Graham F[

I had a redwing in my garden too on Jan 17th-eating apple I had put out. I have been amazed at the numbers of birds visiting. I can hardly keep up with feeding them all. I try to put out all sorts from fruit, soaked bread, meal worms, nuts and seeds and fat balls.

New visitors this winter include goldfinch, nuthatch, woodpecker, bullfinch..they are all such a joy to watch!

Hi we had a redwing visit our garden, but we saw at least 30 of them in the cemetary opposite our house.... think they have migrated over here, so we have  been feeding them mealworms amongst all the other birds in the cemetary and in our garden.......

Costing a small fortune but worth every penny to have the pure  joy of spotting a new visitor, this week we had our first goldcrest to our garden.

We also have a pair of robins which seem to be getting on great so hopefully little ones in the spring.......

We had a whole flock of redwings appear in our garden on christmas day.

These continued to come through out the bad weather, we are still seeing the odd one, infact we had one appear during our garden bird watch.

On the 10th January we saw our first field fare but didn't find out what it was till we watched snow watch on the BBC.

Hi

I have very similar pics!  Thrilled to have Redwings and Fieldfares visiting for the first time ever.  Very happy with all fruit and came every snowy day. Liz near Cardiff

I have a self seeded pyracantheus bush in my garden I nearly pulled it up a couple of years ago, it was absolutely covered iin berries, during the recent snowy weather about 20 birds descended upon it, I didn't know what they were as I had never seen them before, I stood amazed then my grandson saw them and said they were redwings. They all took off together but hadn't completely stripped the bush, lo and behold they were back the next day and came until the bush was stripped bare, The blackbirds and smaller birds were under the bush clearing up all the fallen berries. it was wonderful to see. I wish now I had taken photos but was mesmerised, and being retired spent a lot of time watching them. I will certainly watch out for them next year, the bush can stay!  You wouldn't believe I live in a suburb of London    shirley