With news of the ‘Beast from the east’ being imminent and its arrival on
the 1st I couldn’t get out birding and so did some birding from the
house. I didn’t see too much on the 1st,
with a Mallard and Lesser Black-backed Gull being the most unusual. On the 2nd the weather was more extreme,
and I was greeted by a small number of Fieldfares in mine and a neighbouring
garden and eventually had as many as thirty.
I put some apples out on the lawn and one of the Fieldfares took
ownership of the these and defended them for the rest of the day successfully
preventing others taking advantage. The
remainder were feeding on berries in both gardens and a bush over the
road. During the day I recorded
seventeen species the best being a Eurasian Sparrowhawk, a Common Kestrel,
Lesser Black-backed Gull, Long-tailed Tit and a Pied Wagtail, none of which are
regular visitors to the area.
Fieldfare
The Fieldfare feeding on the apples didn’t leave the garden until 17:50, when it was getting gloomy and it was back early next morning defending the apples. There were fewer Fieldfare today with a maximum count of just twenty-one, but I did record eighteen species. A Lesser Black-backed Gull was seen again but the only other bird of note was a Song Thrush, which I seldom see in the garden these days.
The Fieldfare was back again early on the 4th but I didn’t see it again after 09:00 and then only saw two Fieldfare during my intermittent observations with nothing else of note.
It was surprising how quickly the thrushes dispersed as the weather began to show signs of improvement and the number of scarcer birds also decreased.
Goldfinch
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