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Birds - Thrush, Fieldfare & Redwing Page 1

Image Taken on 02 Jul 2009 at 12:35    Image of day on 09 Aug 2009

There are load of young birds about. Here a couple of young bluetits are looking for lunch (it was 12:30) near the displaced thrush anvil stone.


Ref: 20090809_d50_20090702_1235_005_fb5 2 young bluetits foraging near thrush anvil(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 19 Nov 2017 at 12:06    Image of day on 28 Dec 2017

A Fieldfare perched unusually tolerant of the photographer while perched partly obscured in a Black Poplar tree.


Ref: 20171228_df3_20171119_1206_008 fieldfare(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 18 Nov 2008 at 15:59    Image of day on 09 Dec 2008

A few weeks ago Redwings and Fieldfare arrived together but we mostly saw Redwings. The balance of Fieldfares to Redwings has been restored to its usual 10:1 in favour of Fieldfares. Here a fieldfare visits at dusk.


Ref: 20081209_d3b_20081118_1559_015 fb1 fieldfare (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 13 Dec 2010 at 07:31    Image of day on 05 Feb 2011

Down on the ground a Fieldfare is rooting about in the hedge bottom with an icy beak.


Ref: 20110205_d45_20101213_0731_005_fb1 fieldfare (right edge of frame) with ice on beak(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 05 Feb 2010 at 12:42    Image of day on 08 Mar 2010

Just a few fieldfares are about now. This one was landing high up in a Black Poplar.


Ref: 20100308_df1_20100205_1242_081 fieldfare about to land in black poplar(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 19 Dec 2010 at 16:17    Image of day on 12 Feb 2011

A little defending of the territory - at least until the fieldfare is full.


Ref: 20110212_d45_20101219_1617_335_fb1 fieldfare chasing off dunnock on snow(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 01 Dec 2011 at 12:04    Image of day on 08 Jan 2012

Several Fieldfares spent some time drinking at the back of the main pond. This is the same bird over a couple of seconds . Most birds, like this one, drink by submerging the beak, closing it, and then tipping the water back into the throat.


Ref: 20120108_df1_20111201_1204_093+099 fieldfare drinking at back of main pond filling beak & tilting head backwards 1+2 of 2 (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 06 Dec 2010 at 07:34    Image of day on 30 Jan 2011

6 minutes of apple demolition!


Ref: 20110130_d45_20101206_0734_004-0740_006_fb1 fieldfare eating apple on ground 1-3 of 3 (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 09 Dec 2010 at 07:33    Image of day on 28 Jan 2011

We don't know how long this Fieldfare eventually spent pecking away at this apple because our first frame is at 07:33 (really dark at this time) and the last at 08:59 when this camera is timed to turn off in 'Winter'. But it was interrupted by this grey squirrel which always attacks anything it can bully when it arrives. But 5 minutes later the squirrel had gone and the bird was back to carry on. The images are sequential down the left edge, with the apple rolling about.


Ref: 20110128_d45_20101209_0733_296+0855_316+0859_317_fb1 fieldfare eating apple on ground interrupted by grey squirrel 1+3+4 of 4 (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 19 Nov 2007 at 09:50    Image of day on 18 Dec 2007

Having passed us by when there no apple windfalls, a flock of about 30 Fieldfares (with a few redwings) are making merry in the hawthorn hedge.


Ref: 20071218_d01_20071119_0950_016 fieldfare eating hawthorn berry (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 12 Jan 2014 at 09:39    Image of day on 04 Mar 2014

The flock of Fieldfare has now grown to about 40. This one took off from the group. We don't remember whether it landed back in the tree or not.


Ref: 20140304_df1_20140112_0939_043+045-051 fieldfare flying from black poplar with other fieldfares perched (accurate montage @ 7fps)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 23 Nov 2007 at 14:19    Image of day on 26 Dec 2007

The fieldfares and redwing flutter through these tangles hedge tops without any apparent difficulty.


Ref: 20071226_d01_20071123_1419_196 fieldfare flying through hawthorn hedge(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 11 Nov 2015 at 11:01    Image of day on 24 Dec 2015

Several small (10 or 20) bird well spaced flocks of Fieldfares are flying around the area. Here is a single bird in a strong wind from the right initially gliding with wings partly folded, and then spreading the wings for a few power strokes.
The Fieldfare version of 'Bounding flight' without losing much height with wings closed - you don't notice their height changing as they fly like you do with Woodpeckers who completely fold their wings.


Ref: 20151224_df3_20151111_1101_044-048 fieldfare gliding then flapping flight overhead in strong wind 1-5 of 5 (approx accurate montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 01 Dec 2015 at 12:52    Image of day on 11 Jan 2016

A portrait of a pristine Fieldfare perhaps 10 metres above us in a Black Poplar tree, the only one of a small group that stayed on it's own for several minutes.


Ref: 20160111_df3_20151201_1252_118 fieldfare high in black poplar tree(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 12 Jan 2014 at 09:57    Image of day on 04 Mar 2014

Here the 40 or so Fieldfares stopped for a while in the Black Poplars. Given our norm of '10% of Fieldfare flocks are Redwing' we expected to find some, but every one of these is a Fieldfare as we counted them at full resolution.


Ref: 20140304_df1_20140112_0957_210 40 fieldfare in black poplar(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 18 Nov 2014 at 10:31    Image of day on 12 Jan 2015

We moved here in November 1990, and our first 'new' bird we saw was a Fieldfare, attracted to the existing apple and plum trees. They have been reliable visitors every year, sometimes easier to photograph than others. This one was high in a Black Poplar tree in an atypical hour or 2 of sunshine. The size of the flocks has sadly diminished along with many other birds.


Ref: 20150112_df2_20141118_1031_043 fieldfare in black poplar tree(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 23 Mar 2009 at 16:07    Image of day on 16 Apr 2009

This is the first year we remember fieldfares still being around in March. We used to only see them on the windfall apples in the Autumn.


Ref: 20090416_db1_20090323_1607_102 fieldfare in flight(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 23 Nov 2007 at 14:36    Image of day on 24 Dec 2007

The fieldfares were fluttering through the Hawthorn hedges and we love the spread and translucency of the wings in this fleeting moment.


Ref: 20071224_d01_20071123_1436_271 fieldfare in flight(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 05 Dec 2009 at 09:57    Image of day on 02 Jan 2010

Fieldfares are a regular delight this time of year, though they are very nervous birds that it is very hard to get close to. So one flying past (as opposed to 'away') is a nice bonus. Here 2 successive frames are montaged, mirrored to give a 'left to right' feel, but the positions are for appearance rather than accuracy - the bland blue sky provides nothing to register the images against.


Ref: 20100102_db1_20091205_0957_058+059 fieldfare in flight (mirrored arbitrary montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 02 Dec 2008 at 14:02    Image of day on 20 Dec 2008

Flocks of fieldfares are about but very wary of humans, so we were lucky to get close enough to this one 'out in the open' to catch it departing.


Ref: 20081220_dc1_20081202_1402_061&062 fieldfare in flight montage(r+mb id@576).jpg


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