Last week’s fine weather meant plenty of opportunities for a bit of birding. This time though, rather than just seeing what was about, I went searching for a pair of birds that have so far eluded that all important winter bird list!
Looking for a particular bird species (especially an unfamiliar one) is a challenge, and in many ways a different experience from simply taking a ‘general’ approach to bird watching. Unless you’re lucky, success is more likely to depend on reading relevant habitat notes for a species or finding out what it likes to eat. Listening to advice and checking sighting reports also helps. So with the presence of my 'most wanted' noted in Greenwich Park last week by the London Birders website and a field guide to hand, off I went to find the diminutive Firecrest.
With small resident populations in the south east bolstered by migrants from northern Europe in autumn, now is a good time to find these tiny, attractive birds. Unfortunately, although I staked out a suitably shrubby thicket with a good number of evergreen trees nearby and honed my ID skills by picking the birdsong playlist on my iPod over the new (and totally ace) Superchunk album, I did not encounter a firecrest this time.
Over the weekend however, taking advantage of a trip back home to Kent, I did manage to track down another wanted migrant. The sprawling arable fields and intermittent patches of woodland surrounding my village were perfect I suspected, for spotting a bird that is seen as a true herald of autumn- the Fieldfare. And I was proved right soon after setting out as I came across a flock of around 25 fieldfare rooting among the ploughed furrows for worms and insects. A noisy and striking thrush with their blue-grey head and brown back (and a highly visible white underwing in flight), they are a classic bird to look out for on wintry farmland rambles. They are even known to visit gardens and parks where they are attracted by berries and fallen fruit. So you never know, maybe one will show up near you?
*Above photo of a Fieldfare respectfully nabbed from www.birdphoto.org.uk
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