Waxwings, lucky lucky me !!

[Richard]

They only really come to the UK in big numbers when there's a berry shortage in Russia or Scandinavia, or when they've had a good breeding year and there's insufficient food for them



This year is an exception to even the good years it seems, but still hard to find them
I read a tweet last night which said some were behind a Church in East Malling, a 30 minute drive away.
I thought knowing my luck theyd be gone, but....

24 of them plus BTO Ringers were there so I got close up shots in the hand plus a Redwing and Goldcrest as well.

More pictures on my Diary page here > https://goo.gl/K4c4lf


Richard

[KarenE]

Fantastic pictures Richard, you were very lucky to see them! Magnificent birds And the tiny tiny goldcrest! What an adorable bird.

[Trev62]

Lovely photos and what a stunning bird.

Often we forget some of our wild birds are a match for many of the exotic ones we only get to see in wildlife programmes.

[lancashire lass]

I saw a little flock of about 20 or so birds at work last week - at first I couldn't see what they were because of the light levels but the way they flitted about looked like little tits until I realised they had much slender bodies and a little crest on the back of the head. I've only just identified them ... they are not common visitors round here so I should try to make an effort to photograph them if I can (they have been eating the apples on a tree on the campus grounds which still has fruit over winter, so hopefully I'll see them again)

[Mo]

Not waxwings for me, but a nice handful of other birds past my kitchen window while I washed up. I always get lots of blackbirds - think they like my apples. And sparrows of course. Then a flock of my favourites, long-tailed tits, flitted past, perching in the nearest tree on their way. And the tiny bird that I'd seen at a distance came to the shrubs near the window - not a wren after all, a goldcrest. Plus a thrush.

[Richard]

Great for you Lassie, you may not get a chance to see them for another few years.
They stunned me !!

Mo - Having been to your place I'd imagine you get lots of predators there.
Beuatiful countryside.

Richard

[Mo]

Predators - well there's Pat. And the flying cats that I usually hear high up - buzzards (they sound like cats mewing). One in the garden last week, took off as I came into the kitchen, the washing line was swaying don't know if it had perched on the line or the prop.

[Spreckly]

The local newspaper where we lived previously had aphoto of waxwings on the back page, so we kept our eyes open, and just a few doors away from us spotted them on a cotoneaster shrub. OH dashed home for the camera, but the light was too poor to get a photo.

I still have to see a goldcrest, but we regularly get the long tailed tits at the fat balls.

[Richard]

Orchards still with rotting apples or any trees / bushes, especially Rowan is where you may find them.
Shopping Centre Car Parks are a favourite because Rowan is fast growing, so there's a lot about.

They'll be gone in a few weeks, but it's been a real bumper year for nature watchers.

Richard

[Mo]

I don't really see the birds that come for my fallen apples. From the study I can see a row of trees (up a long drive) but the rest are behind the garage. The kitchen looks out the other way. So I see fieldfares flying away - the dark bar on the tail. They are more shy than blackbirds. And if there were waxwings I might not see them.

Did see one in a suburban garden when we lived in Chester nearly 50 years ago.