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Tag Archives: thrush

Berries and birds

25 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature, plants

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

autumn berries, berries, berries and birds, berry eating birds, birding, birdwatching, Song thrush, thrush

In recent days, on my regular walks, whether in suburban streets or in the local parks and nature reserves, wherever I see berries there are birds, usually thrushes, gobbling down as many berries as they can find.

171125 Thrush and berries (1)

A Song thrush found its golden treasure trove in a tiny, but well-planted-for-wildlife garden amongst the apartments of Penarth Marina, and, below, this thrush, at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, looked to have chosen a berry far too big for its beak but it persevered and, eventually, by applying a little pressure to squash the berry a fraction, down the hatch it went.

171125 Thrush and berries (2)

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’Tis the time of the thrushes

09 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

berries and birds, berry eating birds, birding, birdwatching, Mistle thrush, Redwing, Song thrush, thrush, Turdus iliacus, Turdus philomelos, Turdus viscivorus

Officially, in Britain, the resident true thrushes are the Ring ouzel, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Song thrush, Mistle thrush and Redwing, while other thrush species are occasional, sometimes rare visitors.

171109 Redwing (2)

The thrushes I’ve been noticing most in recent weeks have been the Song thrush, Mistle thrush and Redwing, partly due to their seasonal migration southwards to our ever so slightly milder south Wales climate and partly due to this being prime berry-eating time.

171109 Song thrush (1)
171109 Song thrush (2)

Song thrushes (Turdus philomelos) are resident here all year round, though there is some movement through Britain from Scandinavian birds heading south for the winter.

171109 Mistle thrush (2)
171109 Mistle thrush (3)

171109 Mistle thrush (1)

171109 Mistle thrush (4)
171109 Mistle thrush (5)

It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish Song from Mistle thrushes (Turdus viscivorus), though the Mistles have a tendency to perch high in the tree tops (or, I discovered, on TV aerials, in urban areas!) and to stand with heads held high when foraging on the ground, and their football-rattle song is unmistakeable. I saw my first Mistle thrushes of the season on 9 October and there are now quite large numbers in local parks and reserves.

171109 Redwing (1)

Redwings (Turdus iliacus) were reported locally in early October but it was the 30th before I caught up with a small flock at Cathays Cemetery in Cardiff, and I’ve since spent several hours following them around the berry trees at Cosmeston, trying to get close enough for photos. They’re easily spooked though so my shots so far have not been that great – I’ll keep trying, and I’ll need to try to find Ring ouzels and Fieldfare as well.

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My favourite avians

05 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, nature photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birds, birdwatching, blackbird, Blue tit, British birds, bullfinch, dunnock, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Great tit, robin, thrush

In spite of occasional hail showers and a biting cold wind, yesterday was another magical day at Forest Farm Nature Reserve. I was serenaded by robins, I laughed at the antics of the cute little blue tits, was entertained by the thrushes and blackbirds performing acrobatic stunts in search of the tastiest ivy berries, and enjoyed the most wonderful privilege of a great tit perching on my hand to eat the seeds I was offering. Here are a few of my photos.

160305 ff1 dunnock

A little timid, often overlooked, but very lovely dunnock

160305 ff2 thrush

Both the thrush (above) and blackbird (below) were feasting on ivy berries

160305 ff3 blackbird

160305 ff4 great tit

A great tit

160305 ff5 blue tit

Always so cute, a little blue tit

160305 ff6 bullfinch

A male bullfinch – such stunning colours

160305 ff7 robin

No visit to Forest Farm is complete without a robin or twenty!

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The early bird

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, nature photography

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birds, birdwatching, British birds, proverb, Song thrush, thrush, worm

… catches the worm!

160106 song thrush (1)160106 song thrush (2)160106 song thrush (3)160106 song thrush (4)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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