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The Fieldfare Have Arrived

19 comments


We haven’t seen the fieldfare since the cold winter of 2010. They were zooming around in the wind yesterday but today they have spotted my Ilex.

Not great photos as I was indoors. If you look closely you will see there are lots on there feeding.

They were massing in the trees and taking it in turns to feast on the berries.

I put diced apple on the lawn and dried fruit on the table but the holly berries were their first choice.

They have found the cut up apple and squabbling over it.

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Comments

 

that is a lovely sight.
I put the last of the windfalls out and the odd over ripe pear from the fruit bowl. why is it pears are all rock hard for weeks then all go ripe on the same day? rhetorical question but it is annoying as too many pears are just too much of a good thing. still the birds liked them.

2 Mar, 2018

 

Thanks fantastic, I love the Fieldfares, we get the odd few on the Yew, after the berries. We had one earlier in the year that decided that it 'owned' the bird feeders and apples we put out and it was really amusing to see the antics. But your flock are terrific, I wouldn't get anything done if I had that many in the garden to watch!

2 Mar, 2018

 

Just beautiful,I wish they would come into my garden,but I can enjoy your photos,thank you dawn.

2 Mar, 2018

 

Fabulous flock Dawn they are loving your feast , they'll be back for more :0))

2 Mar, 2018

 

Hi Dawn,we also had a visit today from the Fieldfares.....they seem to like apples here......the Redwings came yesterday..a lot of crowd socialising,so interesting to see......a few of the pleasures snowy conditions bring!.

2 Mar, 2018

 

Anyone know the collective name for a flock of Fieldfares? I don't. There were two taking the scrivelled berries of my red Pyracantha today, first time I've ever seen them here. Much bigger than the blackbirds which tried to evict them from my/their garden. Maybe they've been blown in from the East with the wind.

2 Mar, 2018

 

Haha Seab, at least the birds enjoyed your pears.
HoneyS, yes they were a pleasant distraction.
Callie, there seems to be a few around at the moment so you might get some.
Hi Amy :)
Exactly Meadow, a bonus of this awful snow.
Haha Siris, no I don’t know the group name, I’m pleased you saw them, similar to thrushes aren’t they.
I think they must come with the bad weather from the east.

2 Mar, 2018

 

I've never seen those birds. Are they rare Dawn ?

2 Mar, 2018

 

How wonderful to see them in your garden Dawn and enjoying the berries.. So many of them, I'd be like Honeysuckle and spend hours watching them! I've had what I think are a couple of Thrushes lingering in the garden, one sheltering on the bird table as dusk fell..

2 Mar, 2018

 

Oh! How lovely! A fairly big flock Dawn. Its the Redwings I love. Haven’t seen them for years.

2 Mar, 2018

 

Hywel, I’ve not seen them for a few years, it’s when it’s very cold and snow on the ground. They are usually in a flock.
Janey, probably your thrushes were fieldfare as they look very similar.
There were lots Karen. Redwing hmmm not sure I’ve seen any.

2 Mar, 2018

 

That's a sight to behold Dawn. We haven`t seen them in our garden until last week when there was a scrap underneath the pyracantha between the blackbird and what my OH said was a fieldfare.

6 Mar, 2018

 

I'm pleased you saw one too, yes they like to squabble with the blackbirds.

6 Mar, 2018

 

Dawn what an amazing sight, so many !! we had about 6 when the weather was at its coldest, alas no redwing.....noticed this morning the crows are starting to build their nests they attack the Ginkgo Biloba (our neighbours mighty tree) luckily there is plenty to go at!!

6 Mar, 2018

 

Thanks Dotty. So the crows collect twigs from the ginkgos for the nests?
Our owls are hooting but they do all year. Fingers crossed for babies again, they appear from mid May to end of May.

6 Mar, 2018

 

I do hope so Dawn such a treat for you! .the crows are quite forceful, attacking the branches, pulling large pieces off!

9 Mar, 2018

 

I did a search for the collective noun for fieldfares and this is what I found.
"A mutation is the collective noun for thrushes but is also applied to fieldfares and redwings which are part of the thrush family."

9 Mar, 2018

 

Seabg, that's interesting, those Thrush family do all have some very similar features. The pair? of Fieldfares that turned up in my garden had the distinctive greyish streak down the back.

10 Mar, 2018

 

Thanks for that Seaburn.......just informed my OH!

10 Mar, 2018

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