Bird singing at top of conifer in my garden, size and shape thrush like, but red chest like a robin. Flown before I could get photo.

Sounds like a redwing

(Pardon the Scottish Accent)

Unusual winter thrushes are almost always cases of Redwing or Fieldfare :) hope one matches!

Birds are cool.

In reply to Birbs_Everywhere:

Not redwing or fieldfare, we get both and would know them

Very unlikely I know but, been sent pic of red throated thrush and appears identical, but unlikely due to rarity

In reply to Linda257:

We get both these and would know them, got me perplexed esp as photo of red throated thrush matches, but it's no way a common uk visitor

The evidence - you saw a bird and it had flown before you managed to take a photo.

So to make such a detailed description and then to suggest a rare bird leads me to think what you saw what was most probably a Redwing/Fieldfare/Female Blackbird (or some member of the Thrush family) etc with variances to its colouration or actually the available light affecting the bird's hue depending on the position of the sun and the colour of that light.

Always go with the most obvious answer as 99.999999999999% of the time it will not be a rare bird.

I am sorry, but this was a robin.

Which bird is most likely to sing in UK in January? Most people will answer 'robin' to that.
Which birds crop up in gardens? Robin will crop up in that answer.
What bird looks like a robin? Robin.

Size is the most unreliable 'fact' when people describe what they saw. Shape has to be a close second.

A bird that is coloured like a robin, that is singing at the top of a tree in a garden in January is a robin.

In reply to Tim Hewett:

Tim Hewett said:

Not redwing or fieldfare, we get both and would know them

Have you posted your question on other forums, Tim, and received any feedback?