Watching birds in winter can be a real treat, says Robert Morgan, reserves officer at Norfolk Wildlife Trust, and also add to our knowledge of birds’ distribution in Norfolk.
My own bird winter treat is to see the first brambling hopping about on my lawn. It is a little less dramatic than our well-known great skeins of geese perhaps, but equally agreeable and certainly just as seasonal.
Bramblings arrive in the UK from their Scandinavian and Russian breeding grounds in October and remain until March. Over-wintering numbers may vary, and it is often dependent upon the severity of the weather on continental Europe.
Finding bramblings can be a little hit and miss; they often associate with chaffinch and seem to favour beech woodlands. They are the same size and shape as a chaffinch and superficially similar in plumage, especially the females. The orange chest in both sexes remains the main identifying feature. Scattering seed on the ground should attract chaffinch to your garden, and with luck you may find a brambling or two among them.
More commonly encountered are the winter thrushes, namely the redwing and fieldfare. In late autumn they arrive from the vast Siberian forests to Britain. Forming flocks of fifty or so, they will roam the countryside in search of berry laden hedgerows (‘fare’ being an archaic word for travelling). As the winter deepens they become less ‘flighty’ and are often found on school playing fields and municipal parks, harder weather and the constant search for food eventually draws them into our gardens.
The fieldfare is a stocky, but rather fetching, thrush. Its clay blue rump and nape is divided by a rusty red back and the bird has an up-right posture that emphasizes its speckled ochre chest. The redwing is equally handsome, but a little smaller, it possess striking creamy white head strips that run above the eye and beneath its cheek and as its name suggests the flanks and underwing are red.
The jewel of our winter garden birds must be the waxwing. About the size of a starling, it sports a large crest on its crown, its plumage a combination of subtle greys, buffs and browns. Small waxwing flocks can often be found in the centre of our towns, attracted by cotoneaster and rowan tree berries. The shrubs and bushes around supermarket carparks can often be a surprise location for waxwing, but after quickly clearing them of fruit they move on. A flock of waxwing appearing in the garden, however briefly, is truly memorable.
This winter Norfolk Wildlife Trust would love you to share your winter visitor bird sightings, in particular records of fieldfare, redwing and brambling. Whether you are lucky enough to have them visit your garden, or you see them on your local patch, you can help NWT map sightings within Norfolk, helping identify areas which are especially important for wildlife and identifying wildlife in decline or under threat.
You can increase your chances of seeing these, and many other garden birds, by planting bird friendly berry producing trees and shrubs. Providing a good variety of food in winter will attract a surprising range of birds, but please remember to clean bird feeders and tables regularly to prevent the spread of disease.
Submit records online at www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/spotter or email wild@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk with what you saw, and when and where you saw it.
Nine fun facts about our winter survey birds
According to the British Trust for Ornithology up to 1 million fieldfares cross the North Sea each October.
The Spanish call fieldfares the royal thrush because of their upright stature and beautiful plumage.
Fieldfares will aggressively defend the nest, often pelting intruders with droppings.
Redwings migrate at night, moving generally when the sky is clear and the wind is in the east.
While migrating redwings keep in touch with one another through a high pitched call.
Redwings detect fruit using ultraviolet vision.
During the winter months there brambling numbers range between 45,000-1,800,000 individuals.
Bramblings make their nest from moss, lichen, heather and cobwebs.
The name brambling is thought to derive from a German word linked to a bramble or thorny bush.
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