Fieldfares

A flock of thirty to forty Fieldfares flew over today, by far the largest group I had seen this autumn. Whilst the ground remains unfrozen, these birds will generally feed on the open pastures, finding invertebrates. Seeing them moving across a field is like watching a group of clockwork toys. They tend to be evenly spaced and each bird will move approximately the same distance and in the same direction. That seems to be a very efficient way to cover an area of ground leaving few parts unexamined. These are quite large thrushes, similar in size to the Mistle Thrush and therefore considerably larger than either the Redwing or Song Thrush.
These birds were almost certainly from northern Scandinavia. I have observed them in Iceland, where they are birds of the tundra, nesting on the ground. Their plumage appears to be very colourful when set against our green fields, but in their breeding haunts, they blend well with the brown and grey background. I have also seen them breeding in Reykjavik, where they adopt behaviour very similar to our nesting thrushes. If you cannot identify them by sight, their characteristic chattering call is unlike any other bird and is uttered when either on the ground or in flight.
They have been recorded breeding in northern Scotland, but otherwise, are winter visitors to our shores.