Winter visitors are thrushing in
I WAS walking around one of our lovely nature reserves the other day when I came upon a flock of birders, laden with long lenses, scopes and camouflage gear.
The army surplus stores of Manchester and district make good money out or birders, selling clothing that helps them blend into the undergrowth as they zoom in on rarities in our countryside.
And birders are a friendly bunch, most of them will happily chat about their sightings, unless you happen upon them in mid spot.
Anyway, this group told me about the winter thrushes they had seen that morning.
These are birds that you might have seen but not realised that there was anything wonderful about them. While we have our marvellous mistle thrush and song thrush, which are resident in the UK all year round, in winter we are visited by the fieldfare, redwing and lots of Scandinavian blackbirds, who have flown hundreds of miles to be here.
Our thrushes are a delight to see and hear, with their spotty plumage and loud songs filling your country walks.
If you see a mistle thrush on the ground, it stands up quite tall, emphasising the fact that it is bigger than the song thrush.
Its white belly is covered in round, black spots and it is greyer than its cousin.
The song thrush is brown on top with its white belly covered in black, drop-shaped spots.
It has a warmer colour than the mistle thrush and a slightly more appealing range of songs.
The winter thrushes, the birders were talking about, are fieldfare and redwing, which arrive in their thousands in winter, because it is milder here in winter than on the Continent.
While you will see them in parks and hedgerows, you will spot the largest flocks on the mosses or peatlands of Manchester, Salford and Wigan.
I remember seeing a huge flock on a farmer’s field just as I was walking off Astley Moss.
I had no idea what they were, at first, but I was able to identify them from my pictures.
The fieldfare is a large, colourful thrush that comes over here to feed on our berry bushes.
They are a sociable bird and can been seen in flocks of more than 200.
They have a chestnut-brown back and yellowy breast, streaked with black. They have a black tail, dark wings and pale grey rump and head.
The redwing can often be spotted in flocks with fieldfares, moving from bush to bush looking for food.
They are dark brown above with white bellies and a black-streaked breast and distinctive orangey-red flanks and underwing.
They have a white eyebrow stripe and dark brown cheeks.
While some of these birds appear in gardens, you are more likely to spot the additional blackbirds.
Scandinavian blackbirds will spend summer breeding in Europe before flying here for the winter fruit.
Your native blackbirds have brighter yellow bills and wider yellow rings, around their eyes, so look carefully.
It is exciting to know that our winter visiting garden and meadow birds join geese and wildfowl to add up to a third more birds in the North West than there are in the summer.
That is why our birders are so excited at the moment.