Winter visitors

Many people dread winter, the cold weather and shorter days but I have always loved this time of year. To me, there’s nothing better than a cold, bright winter’s day up on the hills, snow underfoot and a hip flask of something special in my pocket!

Winter is also the time to spot some special visitors to our shores. I want to focus on three species of bird that make Britain their home during the winter months.

The first two are thrushes that start arriving in the Autumn and stay with us right through until

March and as late as April.

The redwing is a little smaller than a song thrush and can be easily recognised by its red flanks and underwings and bright stripe above its eye.

Redwing populations arrive mainly from the colder areas of Scandinavia, Iceland and Russia and feast on our native berry laden bushes and trees. A handful of these beautiful birds are resident species and nest in Scotland.

Arriving with the redwings from Scandinavia and Russia is another thrush, the fieldfare. The fieldfare has a characteristic blue-grey head with brownish grey wings and a speckled breast. They often flock together with redwings and other thrushes such as song and mistle and can also be tempted into gardens where there is plenty of wind fallen fruit to eat.

Up until recently it had been many years since I had seen either of these birds, then I spotted a redwing along with other thrushes feeding on berries whilst on a local walk. The video below captured this moment although it may be pretty tricky to make it out.

Keep a look out for these lovely birds whilst out on your walks this winter, especially where there are hawthorn, holly or rowan trees with plenty of berries. As I said earlier, both species often mix with other thrushes including blackbirds so where you spot them, you may well be lucky!

Our final winter visitor is a pure dazzler, the waxwing. Sadly, I’ve not been lucky enough to ever spot this exotic and handsome bird. Again, arriving from Scandinavia and Russia, waxwings come to Britain in search of berries when crops in their native lands become scarce and they gather in large flocks, particularly around rowan trees and some winters can see irruptive numbers of visiting birds where conditions are extremely harsh in their homeland.

So there you have it! Three dazzling beauties to look out for to help brighten those long winter days ahead. Let me know if you have been lucky enough to spot any of them or any birds that you have recently seen out on your wanderings.

Have a great winter folks.