Bird ID Please

Hi and welcome to the forum from me in Berkshire.

I agree with Shane that it's a Redwing. They are of course winter visitors from Scandinavia and northern Europe so are not with us all year round.

One of its distinctive features is the red patch on its flank which extends under the wing. The other feature which helps to distinguish it from other thrushes is the prominent pale stripe above the eye (supercilium).

Now you are getting into birdwatching you will find it quite addictive, so beware.

Hi welcome to the forum from Sheffield..hope to see some more of your photos

Thank you Shane, Teejay and Doggie for the welcome and for positively identifying this little fella for me. I am very quickly finding that Birdwatching is very addictive, they are such fascinating subjects and there are so many beautiful species :)

You are not a million miles away from me Teejay as i live in Hemel Hempstead. I visit Tring Reservoirs and also Stockers lake in Rickmansworth quite often, also went Kite watching at Aston Rowant last Summer, not that i seen any from the reserve, they were all flying around Stokenchurch :) One day i hope to capture some great photos of the Kites in the wild. Any i have managed up to now have not been very good as the Kite has been flying too high. But as for other photos, i have plenty of them to share :)

Check out TJ's flickr shots of Kites

lovely redwing picture, well done and welcome from me. Alan

Hi Lost, and welcome from me in Lancashire.

Nice to see a redwing, never mind photograph one.

I agree with Doggie - TJ gets kites flying over his garden very low, and also has them land occasionally, so check out his Flickr photos.

Thank you Alan and Linda :)

We did have a breeding pair flying over every week, always on a Saturday i would see them, never during the week, then since just before Christmas one of the Adults have gone and a Juvenile appeared in its place so must of meant they were successful :) Again going into this year, i never see them on any other day other than a Saturday. It is as if it takes them a whole week to go around their whole territory, that is all i can think it is.

My Wifes Aunt is lucky enough to have Kites land in her garden, although there is more countryside where she lives, its just too built up here i think for them to be confident enough to land, unless a carcass is put out for them.

I will have to check out TJ`s images. The only close ups i ever have managed was at the School of Falconry in Shuttleworth. Nice to get any photographs of any Raptors close up but you cannot beat getting photos of them in the wild.

Hi LostnSpace,

Welcome from me in Sheffield.  Lovely picture of a lovely bird.  I saw my first Redwing only a couple of weeks ago.

Hi LostnSpace,

I'm from Hemel too!! First time I've ever met someone else on a bird forum thats from there! I'm currently up in Northumberland, but used to visit College Lake and the Tring Reservoirs whenever I could, but spent much more time in my local patch of woodland (bit dodgy at times...)! Welcome to the forums!

Sarah

Thank you AppleAnne & Sarah.

Always nice to see something different Apple, especially when watching garden visitors, the last thing i expected it to be was a Redwing though.

College Lake, Tring Reservoirs, Wilstone, Stockers Lake, Ashridge Estate, Cassiobury Park/Whippendell Woods are just some of my haunts now. Hopefully this year i will head out further afield and do Fishers Green up to Rye Meads.

I saw two Redwings in my garden this weekend when doing Big Gardenwatch.  As TJ says the says the supercilium (pale whitish stripe above the eye) is a really good indicator.  Saw loads last year eating my windfall apples but these at the weekend were the first I've seen this year

Its different type of Thrushes i have more difficulty identifying Fuschia out of any species, mainly because most of them have similar markings, heart shapes on breast for one, i will get there one day though and hopefully when seeing a certain thrush will be able to tell one from another. Still a lot to learn for now :)

Not seen anymore Redwings since this one though, might of just been passing through.

Hi LostnSpace2011, as you are from Hemel you may be interested in my blog at hemelbirding.blogspot.com its still work in progress with many posts to write up but I aim to keep it up to date with sightings of birds around the area. On the twitter bar on the right you can see bird sightings live as i see them which you can also see at my facebook page. i'll sometimes write about birds i see elsewhere but the blog is focused mainly on Hemel hempstead, you'd be suprised what's about. If you need any info send me a message :)