For a few magical days earlier this month I enjoyed the privilege of close sightings of Redwings as they travelled around our local woodland foraging for food. Special sightings indeed, and better still I didn’t even need to leave my flat: all but one of the following photographs were taken from my kitchen window.
December 31st 2016
09:10 Thrilled to see Redwings this morning – several flew through the cover of the trees and shrubbery behind the building, with one pausing briefly in view of the kitchen window. There was a flurry of bird activity around that time; they were preceded by a mixed group of small birds, including Long-tailed, Great & Blue tits and seemed to have a variety of blackbirds travelling with them, so may have been a thrush feeding party following a tit feeding. The light was poor and I only managed to get one not-so-good photograph, but at least it is a record of the sighting.
English name: Redwing Scientific name: Turdus ileacus Welsh: Coch Dan-aden Status in the UK: RED Redwings are red-listed in the UK as although the majority are autumn-winter residents, we have a very small breeding population, restricted in range to the northern third of Scotland.
Other local names: Swinepipe, Wind Thrush Scientific name from: Latin: turdus=a thrush and Latin: iliacus=of the flanks (from ile=flank)
Redwings are Autumn-Winter residents of the UK and the smallest and daintiest of our thrushes. Smaller than the Song thrush, they are often shy, but a close view reveals a prominent whitish supercilium (eye stripe), warm rust red patches on the flanks and under the wings and cool grey-brown upperparts. Males and females are alike.
January 2nd
This was the day of my encounter with the flock during my walk in the woods, already described in the previous post. There were blackbirds with them then too and I went on to see the mixed small-bird feeding party just minutes later.
The Redwing’s diet is mainly composed of invertebrates, supplemented with berries in autumn and winter. Wintering Redwings may be seen together with Fieldfares foraging in open fields, but they also feed with other thrushes in grassy paddocks or in woodland. Visits to gardens may be brief and are usually prompted by harsh weather.
January 5th
A frost last night left the ground hard and sparkling white this morning, and it remained cold for much of the day despite the bright sunshine. The hard ground may have driven the Redwings to seek easier food sources. This was brilliant for me as from early morning a small flock of them arrived intermittently throughout the day to pick at ripening ivy berries. So once again from my window I had a succession of fairly close-up views of them, although most of the time they were at least partially hidden behind tree twigs or within ivy foliage.
The majority of Redwings arrive into the UK during September and October as birds cross the North Sea from Scandinavia and Russia. Those arriving into Wales and other western areas are most probably Icelandic birds. Redwings are night-time migrants, and if you are lucky and listen out on dark clear autumn and early winter nights, particularly in the east of the country, you may hear the thin ‘tseep‘ of a flock overhead. As winter arrives Redwings will have largely finished their journeys, settling in the warmer and relatively frost-free areas away from the east coast. They stay with us till March, although hard weather may force them to migrate further, with Scandinavian/Russian birds (the iliacus race) continuing westwards to Ireland or southwards into southern Europe.
Taking a few minutes to rest in the warm sunshine:
“Any attempt to estimate the size of the wintering population of Redwings in Britain and Ireland meets with the same problem as for the Fieldfare: the numbers vary from year to year, and also in the course of a single winter, and major shifts of population may take place in response to weather and feeding conditions. “
( David Snow 1987 – The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland, edited by Peter Lack)
Another interesting observation I made today was of a Grey squirrel that seemed to be ‘guarding’ the ivy berries. I watched it chase away another squirrel several times, but also noticed it was chasing the Redwings away too, charging at them by running along branches towards them at speed, tail all fluffed out!
January 6th
Milder temperatures may have allowed the Redwings to move on in their constant search for food and today I saw just one bird from my window. It wasn’t in the usual hurry and lingered for a few moments, not moving far and presenting itself to me from various angles so I got some lovely views of different aspects of its plumage and general ‘giz’. They really are beautiful birds.
I saved the best for last.
BeckyB said:
oh wow you are so lucky . . . . 17 years ago they were regulars to our garden, but these days are a rare sight. The reason is that more and more fields around us are disappearing around houses. I know there is a housing crisis but I wish we were more inventive with using brown field sites in the south east of England.
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theresagreen said:
Yes, super-lucky I think Becky! I empathise with your dismay at losing our countryside, my sisters still live in Northamptonshire, where we grew up and the same thing is happening around them. In such places they are not meeting the housing crisis, just building expensive houses that mostly city people wanting to move to the country can afford – whilst building on the very countryside. Local young people have been priced out for years!
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BeckyB said:
Winchester is the same 😕
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Patricia Tilton said:
Beautiful post. The joy and beauty of the redwings feeding in mid-winter, reminds me that spring is not too far away. Such lovely birds.
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theresagreen said:
Thank you Patricia, they are indeed beautiful birds. There are definite signs here that spring is on its way now, birds that breed here are getting territorial and some are singing again. Some have even begun nesting! How is your winter progressing?
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Patricia Tilton said:
I live in SW Ohio and the storms have gone north and south of us. We’ve had a mild weather with days in the 50s-60s. Then it will drop a few days later and be in the 20-30s for a few days. Am concerned about the warm weather on tree buds.
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theresagreen said:
Hi Pat, I think I’d imagined you in the grip of winter with snow, so was surprised to hear about the temperatures there – it sounds warmer than some of our summers! I think many of us are concerned about climate changes, but nature has always found a way of adapting in the past. I think the greatest danger is to we humans – we’re spoiling it for ourselves!
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Julie said:
I enjoyed your post and observations Theresa, such an exciting visitor. Just wish I could say I’ve seen some too this winter, so a tad envious!
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theresagreen said:
Thank you Julie, they were indeed a real treat to see. I hope you may have seen some yourself by now, they are with us till some time in March I think.
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Julie said:
Not yet, although I am ever hopeful. 🙂
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sconzani said:
I came home from watching redwings in my local park to find your lovely blog – perfect timing! They are such pretty little birds, though rather skittish. Love all your wonderful photos of them. 🙂
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theresagreen said:
Thank you for your kind comments Annie – having tried to take photographs of them I have to agree about the skittish behaviour, they seem to almost burst with energy don’t they? They are extremely pretty birds, appreciated even more when they sit still!
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Denzil said:
One of my favourite sounds of the early autumn, is when I am standing in the garden in the late evening. All is dark, and right above me are the gentle “seeps” of migrating redwings flying over.
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theresagreen said:
That must be a wonderful experience. Would they be birds migrating in or on passage elsewhere?
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