Our monthly Wednesday Wander set off from the car park this morning with a few redwings in the hedge ahead of us. It was noticeable how few berries were left on this stretch of hawthorn - it had been laden just over a month ago, before the winter thrushes arrived.
Our first challenge was to show people some goldeneyes from one of the viewpoints. Eventually, everyone saw some - there were just three in that area, but they were busily feeding, and diving out of sight for long periods. Further on, there were many more goldeneyes to see; we needn't have worried about these first three, although no-one like to miss the first ones, just in case...
I think everyone in the group would agree that the star performers today were the redwings and bullfinches that we watched on the drove road on the south side of Elney Lake. The high hedges sheltered us (and the birds) from the strong wind, and sun highlighted birds on one side of the track. A couple of male bullfinches looked stunning, and were admired by everyone. The finches and redwings were eating berries in the hedges, and dropping down onto the track ahead of us to drink from puddles. A couple of bullfinches were noted eating the waxy guelder rose berries, but the redwings only ate hawthorn berries.
photo by Nigel Sprowell (thanks Nigel)