Birds, Leps, Observations & Generalities - the images and ramblings of Mark Skevington. Sometimes.

Friday 25 January 2013

Fieldfare

In most years I'll see both Fieldfare and Redwing around the garden - either in the trees briefly perched, feeding on the adjacent embankment or just passing over. Up till now I've had very few ever actually come down into the garden to feed. So in that sense I was pleased to see a lone Fieldfare in the garden this morning, and grabbed a few gainy shots in the early morning gloom through the windows. I was also pleased to see it feeding up, but this also brought home how hard it is in these recent conditions for some species that are much more likely to forage naturally than the garden tits and finches that come in all weathers. I was less pleased though to see the bullying tactics it used to stop everything else feeding!


3 comments:

Gavin Haig said...

Had similar experience a couple of winters back. We never get Fieldfares in our tiny garden, so when one took up residence in the freeze and started polishing off all the apples we put out, it was quite exciting. Then we noticed how it chased everything off! There was plenty to share, and loads of birds really desperate in the weather, but it never let anything else get a look in. We found ourselves beginning to dislike it...

Mark Hammond said...

Just one Fieldfare in my Thrapston garden today. Actually was getting as much as it gave tussling for food with four Blackbirds! Redwing was here last weekend, mostly sitting on the back fence in a huddle position with beak almost vertical!

Skev said...

Our Blackbirds are very aggressive toward others of their own kind, but they tend to ignore Dunnocks etc. Mistle Thrushes chase everything off of 'their' bush, but this Fieldfare wouldn't tolerate anything. Interesting to know that it's something that they seem to do widely.