When winter begins to tighten its deadly grip on the world’s northernmost latitudes, food gets scarce and many birds either flee south or face starvation.

Fieldfares come chack-chack-chacking all the way across the North Sea from Scandinavia, some even further, from the desolate snowbound plains of Siberia.

Some Redwings also fly across the North Sea, though most of those we see in Britain have come south from Iceland. Seeing and hearing these gorgeous birds is one of winter’s highlights for me.