The Bigg Bird Forum

[fsphil]

I'm just back from a telescope outing with some friends and family, just a few miles out of town. It was a good night, and it would have been better had I not forgotten to bring the small but essential adapter needed to use the telescope. Ah well

The whole time we where out there I could hear the now familiar sound of Red Wings calling above us, and it got me thinking - just how high up are they? They're quite small birds so they can't be that far away if I can hear them as clearly as I can?

I did manage to picture a bird of sorts... a Swan:

Constellation Cygnus, the Swan
Poster: fsphil, viewed 51 Time(s)

[Kit]

I keep going out and listening, but haven't heard any fieldfares or redwings yet. They probably don't fly over the town, but I keep listening anyway! I am hearing the hundreds (possibly thousands?) of corvids that fly over at first light and dusk, though, on their way out from their roost in a local park to their feeding grounds. It's a huge mixed flock, but the ones you hear most are the jackdaws, chacking away. It take over 20 minutes for them all to fly over, that's how many there are!

[fsphil]

They shouldn't be to far away from you now, I'm surprised you haven't heard any yet. Now a fieldfares is something I've never heard before. Are they another species that fly at night?

[Peter]

I heard redwings last night over Bath when coming back from a friend's house (not that you are interested in exactly what I was doing!).

[Kit]

Apparently fieldfares do migrate night, although I've never heard them yet!

[fsphil]

I just saw a huge flock of red wings pass overhead. There where hundreds of them, heading directly south.

A few years ago I wouldn't even have noticed this kind of stuff

[Corinna]

Small birds migrate at night - big birds in the daytime!

I have Fieldfares here in Hounslow!

All the Thrushes I saw in Shetland are on their way south but I have yet to see a Redwing here!

[Kit]

I've never knowingly seen a redwing, I hope one or two come visiting this winter!

[donalo]

I saw 10-15 Redwings today feeding on open grass. I knew they werent Thrushes (much smaller) so had to check the internet as I was unsure exactly what they were. Beautiful birds.

[Peter]

Today's delights...

Redwing
Poster: Peter, viewed 59 Time(s)

Snow birds
Poster: Peter, viewed 72 Time(s)

Taken with a Ricoh R8 thorugh a very dirty study window!

Also saw a fieldfare fleetingly visit the garden. Had one extremely agressive and annoying blackbird that chased everything except the fat wood pigeons.

[fsphil]

Fantastic! I've still to see one properly - I only get glimpses of them flying overhead at dawn and dusk. They never seem to land here!

[Peter]

They only ever come to our garden when the weather is very harsh - either snow of deep frost. The love the orange berries on our thorny bush. Fieldfares are very much more weary.

[Island dweller]

A couple of dodgy pics just taken a moment ago for identification purposes in the front garden on the Isle of Wight. This is my first ever sighting of both birds and happened to be in the same tree at the same time.

Redwing
Poster: Island dweller, viewed 63 Time(s)

Fieldfare
Poster: Island dweller, viewed 74 Time(s)

[Kit]

Lovely – I've had redwings, but no fieldfares yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[Strixaluco]

Usually we only see redwings here in January or February (and in 2008 they didn't visit at all) but in 2009 we had two visits in November/December. At the moment we're being invaded by blackbirds - we regularly count as many as 13! - and when a lone redwing landed among such a mob on the snow covered lawn today, it was soon chased away.