Living in a Close of 2/3 bedroom houses and small gardens, I only attract sparrows, dunnocks, blackbirds and the occasional robin to my garden but big excitement for me today when my holly tree was decended upon. The holly tree usually keeps its lovely red berries into the spring/summer when the new berries take over. This has happened for the past 20 years. This afternoon I suddenly noticed birds eating the berries and I viewed them for some time and then looked them up in my book. I believe they were Fieldfares. In a few short hours they had stripped the tree ov every berry. A real thrill for me to know that the berries at last had served a good purpose and even more thrilling that a bird I'd never seen before had visited my garden in big numbers. Wonderful! Just wanted to share my good news.
Chippy
Nice Chippy bet it was a cracking sight
Regards Alan
My photos are here and here
Great !
I had one Fieldfare in the severe winter January 2011. It was eating the tiny berries of a privet bush. It must have been pretty desperate to bother with those. Having a whole flock visit must have been brilliant for you.
I know nowt :)
MY Gallery here
Hi Chippy
It is an amazing sight when they descend like that. There seem to be masses of them around this winter and with this cold snap they seem to be coming into gardens more than usual. I'm wondering whether the bitter weather in Europe has caused even more to come to the UK than normal.
Regards TJ
My Flickr photostream
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. (Chinese proverb)
Great stuff, Chippy. I've been out looking for them today as I've never seen one, but still they elude me! Loads of Redwings, though. :-)
So long,
Apple
A Rotherham lass at heart
That's brilliant Chippy :-)
April & May can often be beset by the blasts of winter, when a cold wind sends temperatures falling. Since this coincides with the flowering of the Blackthorn, the cold snap is known as a 'Blackthorn Winter'.
Chippy, you and I seem to have had a staggering day both. My trees were covered with redwing. They were resting on one tree and -like you described- stripping the holly tree. guzzling them down like they'd never eaten before it seemed! Glad to hear you've had a great day birding.....and staying warm inside is best. I didn't need bins.
Great news.