Thrushes

Mistle Thrushes are singing. As autumn comes to an end they often sing, perhaps staking out territories for next spring. Most however travel around in small flocks and this is the best time of the year to see them. These large thrushes, with distinctive silver under wings search out berries in hedgerows and have a distinctive upwards swoop when alighting in a tree. Blackbirds stopped singing in July, but on warm autumn days they too can sometimes be heard singing softly for short periods in the early morning. They're in the garden now, quietly striping the cotoneaster of its berries.

Even though it's late November, there’s been no frost and the temperature is unseasonably warm. It's been a bumper year for berries and when the weather finally turns cold, there'll be plenty to feed the all five species of winter thrushes. Song thrushes are nowhere to be seen at present, but will start to appear along with Redwings and Fieldfares after the first frosts and when winter arrives in the east.