Bird of the day!

[Deer Stalker]

Highlights from the New Forest this morning were hundreds & hundreds of Redwings with a few Fielfare mixed in, a pair of Ravens, a few flocks of Crossbills & a calling Hawfinch.

[Jason Claxton]

10 Fieldfare over my house,also loads of Long-tailed Tits in the garden.

[Deer Stalker]

Bramblings in the wind & rain on the New Forest this morning.

[blacknest]

Originally Posted by Deer Stalker

Highlights from the New Forest this morning were hundreds & hundreds of Redwings with a few Fielfare mixed in.

I had a wet walk in Alice Holt yesterday...great streams of redwings again!

Why so many? The "pull" of berries in UK ? Or the "push" of not enough to eat at home in Scandinavia etc? After all it's not cold.

Berry-wise there was a fair crop of Rowan (nearly gone now) and Guelder Rose (now being noshed) a medium crop of Yew (where are the Mistle thrushes? They normally guard these trees very aggressively against other species) fairly good crop of hawthorn (going fast, partly birds, partly wind and rain I expect) a very heavy crop of holly (Birds don't seem to have started on it in earnest) and a rather meagre crop of ivy (that will be a problem especially for the wood pigeons and blackbirds if we get serious cold weather in late winter)

And are the Redwing and Fieldfare migrations pretty much done? I know they often suffer large mortality crossing the North Sea and get washed up in large numbers dead or exhausted where they fall prey to gulls along the North/East coasts.
This rotten weather must be making it hard, but maybe they're all over here by now and safely feeding.

QUESTIONS , QUESTIONS! ANY ANSWERS?

[thebeard]

happy today, saw a bird in my garden for the first time in AGES today - i live in a very urban area - a dunnock!!! hurray!

[nutmeg]

I don't often have a bird of the day to add here - but today I spent ages watching a sparrowhawk sitting doing very little on my garden fence. Rarely see one so close to the house (usually further down the garden) and certainly have never had one hang around for so long.

[pressld2]

Kestrels for me today. I drove up to Donna Nook for the seals with Neil (Ukwildlifeo) and we saw at least six, many of them hovering very close to the road and giving us great, if fleeting, views. Nearly trumped by the barn owl we saw on the way home. It was about 3:30 so still good light. I only caught a brief glimpse of it as I was driving but I think Neil had a better view. It was on his side of the car too.

Dave P.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by pressld2

Kestrels for me today. I drove up to Donna Nook for the seals with Neil (Ukwildlifeo) and we saw at least six, many of them hovering very close to the road and giving us great, if fleeting, views. Nearly trumped by the barn owl we saw on the way home. It was about 3:30 so still good light. I only caught a brief glimpse of it as I was driving but I think Neil had a better view. It was on his side of the car too.

Dave P.

I think the barn owl won it for me, though that close kestrel on the way was a close second.

[Jason Claxton]

A Raven today,also another Chiffchaff,stacks of Redwings and some Fieldfares

[Phoebe]

The sound, and then sight of a Bullfinch whilst walking the dogs, the annoying thing is it was in the trees on the lane I live but have never seen it visit my garden trees!