A Winter Visitor

Fieldfares are another one of my favourite birds. These gorgeous winter visitors come here from Scandinavia, presumably to escape the harsh winter weather. They flock together, feeding on windfall apples in the old orchard, conversing noisily with scolding chattering calls, unmistakeable with their beautiful slaty blue grey head, brown back, and cream speckled chest. This weekend I was lucky enough to watch these lovely thrushes as they fed, pecking pieces of frosty fruit, and squabbling amongst themselves. They were joined by a large flock of Starlings and a couple of Carrion Crows too, all feasting on the fallen apples. Suddenly they all took flight, a single alarm call preceded the whoosh of wings as they fled into the sky, a Sparrowhawk glided silently through the trees, broad wings and long tail, directly above my head.

Fieldfare170116DM9396

 

 

(Click images to view larger…)

If you like what you see, please consider sharing![social_share/]
UK & Eire Natural History Bloggers

Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DawnMonroseNaturePhotography

Similar Posts

  • Honeybees in the pink

    Bees are a real running theme for me this year, I just can’t resist the challenge of photographing these beautiful creatures. But they really are tricky to take pictures of. They are constantly moving, even when lapping the nectar from my Sedum plant in the garden, and in macro photography even the tiniest movements make…

  • This Weekend

    I’ve not had very much chance to get out with the camera of late, and this weekend wasn’t much better either! With the dull weather I decided to do some work in the garden, and as I was sowing some seeds all the Woodpigeons in the hedgerow scattered, and the small birds dived for cover….

  • A Big Year

    This year is a big year for me. Not in the same sense as a bird watchers ‘Big Year’, where they try to see as many different species as possible, but because today I turned 30. So in a fit of ambitiousness I decided to set myself the challenge of photographing 30 different wildlife events…

  • Autumn

    The golden season. Hedgerows heavy with fruits lead me to the earthy scented forest. Fungi, like this Fly Agaric push through the dark, damp soil. A Jay flies overhead with a beak full of acorns, and a Squirrel scampers up a tree to watch me walk by. Away from the forest into the open parkland…

  • Nearly but not quite

    Someone very wise once said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It’s true, and that’s what we do as wildlife photographers. We visit the same spot again and again, hoping for that one moment when it all comes together. The light, the subject – we wait…

2 Comments

Leave a Reply