Rapt with Redwings

Saturday's forecast was for one of those glorious, sun-filled, crisp winter days, the kind of day to pull the thermals on and make the absolute most of. So I got up early and headed for one of my favourite places, the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Wisley.

There was so much to see and do that I spent over seven hours there and only left because they were ringing the bell for closing time. There were wonderful early bursts of colour to enjoy from plants such as the Witch Hazels (Hamamelis) and Chimonanthus.

Apart from the tropical butterflies in the glasshouse, I didn't see a single insect. But I saw plenty of birds - Siskins, Nutchatches, Dunnocks and Robins, and a Treecreeper.

However, the 'main event' of the day was the thrushes. I found Redwings and Fieldfares feeding on the dried up fruit of crab apples Malus 'Evereste' and Malus hupensis. And they were on Davidia too. But the biggest numbers were all feeding underneath and in a Himalayan Pear tree Pyrus pashia. They were like bees around a honeypot, joined at the feast by Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Chaffinches, Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tit and Long-tailed Tits.

And they were so engrossed (and hungry) that some of them, like this Redwing, were quite fearless of the passers-by only a few metres away.

What I loved most was that all sorts of people stopped while I was photographing to ask what they were and to admire them. It seemed that more people lingered here than anywhere else in the garden (except in the hothouse!). "I've never seen one before", they'd say. Or just, "Aren't they beautiful!"

Looking at this Fieldfare, I couldn't agree more :-)