Most birds move to find food in winter. Upland birds move to lower ground and northern birds fly south. It is a particular problem for birds that eat insects, and many insect eating birds change their diet to include berries while insects are either dead, dormant or eggs.
One of our thrushes has an unusual strategy: Mistle Thrushes find a good berry source, often a single large Hawthorn bush, and defend it against all other berry eating birds. They do this rather noisily, sounding like one of those ancient football rattles. It would seem a good plan, but in winter, we are invaded by Scandinavian thrushes. More Blackbirds arrive, and we get Redwings which I was taught were the Scandinavian Song Thrush, and the larger Fieldfares: The Scandinavian Mistle Thrush.
Fieldfare by Ray Scott.
Unlike Mistle Thrushes, Fieldfares are very sociable, and arrive here in October in flocks up to several hundred strong. They are very obvious as they fly around emitting a loud “chack” call. And they are on the lookout for berries. Not good news for that Mistle Thrush standing guard over his winter larder.
At Saltholme, we have a flock of Fieldfare of about 100 birds. They are not that easy to approach, and they have a habit of flying up, circling round and landing just a bit further on as you walk along the hedgerows. But when you do eventually manage to get a good view in decent light, that light chestnut brown on the shoulders contrasting with the grey is well worth it.