Waxwing weather

It's waxwing weather. Temperatures here are below freezing and we've had several falls of snow over the last week. It's this kind of weather that blows in flocks of birds like waxwings, redwings and fieldfares that feast on berries in trees and hedges. I had a most unlikely encounter with waxwings one bitter, icy morning when I arrived at work and spotted a bush full of these beautiful passerines in the hospital car park. They are so named because their wings look as if they have been splashed with scarlet and yellow sealing wax.

The redwing and the fieldfare sit at opposite ends of the size range of British thrushes. The redwing, distinguished by a russet underwing which is most apparent in flight, is the smallest whilst the fieldfare is a large thrush which is distinguishable from song and mistle thrushes by a lot of grey in its colouring - on the head and rump - and v shaped spotting on the breast that gives the appearance of a herringbone tweed waistcoat! Fieldfares are usually seen in flocks and prefer fields and hedges but sometimes drift into gardens in a harsh winter. Last winter a relative told me he had watched a flock of fieldfares strip the rowan in his garden bare whilst on the phone to a friend!

So far I haven't seen either species this winter but both have been reported at nearby places in the Hull valley. I have had to make do with a huge mistle thrush hopping around my neighbours front lawn but I shall be keeping my eyes open and the binoculars handy.