Redwings have arrived!!

Birdnuts

Heard the first evocative, late night, high pitched calls of Redwing arriving from Northern lands yesterday here in North Kildare. I must say I find their arrival as thrilling and as classic a sign of the autumn as the arrival of swallows are to spring. Anyone else heard them calling overhead at night recently??:)

boneless

Have heard them for the past few nights but last night they were more frequent... winter is nigh!!

mellickricky

seen a lapwing last week near my house right where I usually see flocks of them way later into the winter...is that bad/possible?also the high pitched squeal gave it away.

bdo

Heard them over me on Wednesday night in North Wicklow. Saw them Thursday morning off Kilcoole / Newcastle.

E39MSport

They're here in Kildare in very healthy numbers.

victor11

A couple in my Garden this AM - North Dublin

Durnish

got at least one in my garden, Belfast, this white lunchtime, feeding on same berries as waxwings did last winter.

Kess73

There seems to be far more redwing and fieldfare around this winter than any other winter I can remember.

Anyone seeing them more often this winter than before?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Kess73 wrote: »

There seems to be far more redwing and fieldfare around this winter than any other winter I can remember.

Anyone seeing them more often this winter than before?

What part of the country are you in Kess?

Here in the North East we usually get 300+ Redwings and 200+ Fieldfares from early November on. This Winter there have been no Fieldfares on my patch and only 2 Redwings!

snaps

Yes here as well in mayo!

Kess73

Carolyn Dead Eraser wrote: »

What part of the country are you in Kess?

Here in the North East we usually get 300+ Redwings and 200+ Fieldfares from early November on. This Winter there have been no Fieldfares on my patch and only 2 Redwings!

I'm in Limerick. We normally get them around the parks etc during the winter , but this winter I am seeing far more than I ever have.

I am wondering if all the recent flooding in Clare, and Cork forced some of the birds that winter here to seek new winter feeding grounds and ended up in the middle in Limerick.

I am one of many who are helping with the Bird Atlas 2007-2011, and I have far more redwing and Fieldfare in my tetrads this winter when compared to the other winters I have done.

ThunderCat

Saw my first lot of Redwings yesterday. Didnt know what they were but there were plenty of them as I passed by the local park on my way to work. I looked on this site and found out that they were redwings. Nice looking bird but i didnt get a chance to see their red wings as they were all foraging on the ground for food. Im sure they have been around for a while but I havnt noticed them until yesterday. In the middle of the lot of them was a single Lapwing. Stuck out like a sore thumb! Im in North County Dublin by the way.

Itsdacraic

Used to get huge flocks of redwings in the mid to late 90's. Haven 't seen them in years though. It's a pity, it used to be an unbelieveable sight when they used to arrive. The field would be literally moving with them.

neil_hosey

theres a good few around enfield at the moment. Not to many though. Maybe 20 -30 on the green outside my house.

ThunderCat wrote: »

Saw my first lot of Redwings yesterday. Didnt know what they were but there were plenty of them as I passed by the local park on my way to work. I looked on this site and found out that they were redwings. Nice looking bird but i didnt get a chance to see their red wings as they were all foraging on the ground for food. Im sure they have been around for a while but I havnt noticed them until yesterday. In the middle of the lot of them was a single Lapwing. Stuck out like a sore thumb! Im in North County Dublin by the way.

you can still see red right and left of the breast if you look a bit close. lovely birds

VERYinterested

Saw a flock of about 30 Redwings this morning in a little estate I walk through that is parallel to Barton Road near Dundrum in South Co. Dublin. Going mad for red berries on a catoneaster. Further along the road I saw a Fieldfare fighting with a Blackbird over territory. Oh the joys, I'd never knowingly seen either a Redwing or a Fieldfare before in my 46 years of age!

Connacht

In Mayo -
small numbers of Redwing and smaller numbers of Fieldfare, but still more of each than I remember in recent years.

padi89

My estate is full of redwings for the past couple of weeks and now i have at least 4 in my garden most of the day eating bits of apples i throw out. I also have a fieldfare visiting every morning until all the food runs out its funny it spends most of the time chasing other birds around.

V Bull

Got my first Redwing in the garden the other day, by the time I got the camera he flew up into the tree, here's a photo....

Bog Butter

Unfortunatley this weather is having a negitive effect on the redwings in my garden. I found 5 of the creatuiri bocht in my garage. I presume the cat brought them in. Perhaps they were easy prey for her. I opened a thread on it in the animal welfare section.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055792599

edit: what do they sound like?

edit: I suspect that these migratory birds do not expect Ireland so have such prolonged freezing weather.

littlebug

I've noticed a lot more redwing this year too. Last year I had the occasional one in the garden and this year it's a daily occurrence and i've noticed a field full of them nearby and others generally out and about. Lots of mistle thrushes too.
Sorry Malman- I have no idea what they sound like. Try the rspb bird identifier tool www.rspb.org.uk they have soundbites for each bird

pipop

i seen one of theese when i was in tipp over the christmas and was like wow then i noticed there was 4 of them.....now im home ( a coastal town in north county dublin ) there every where, ive always fed the birds....i regulary see up to ten redwings in my garden now...fighting and everything, i usually throw out bread, cooked rice and noodles, and home made fat balls ( well ya have to make somethin to keep the little one occupied seen as theres no school ) whats the best thing to feed theese...there gorgous, i never saw them before, ive been googlin them and it seems to be coz of the cold spell...there every where

Alun

Had a couple in our garden here in Bray today for the first time I can remember. Saw loads yesterday flying around in the gorse on top of Bray Head yesterday as well. There were hundreds of fieldfares in the playing field of the school at the junction of Vevay Road and Boghall Road as well.

Rancid

For the first time ever I saw Redwings and Fieldfares in my garden over the last 2 days. NEVER before!
Delighted to see them at last.
I've a constant supply of blue, great, coal tits, blackbirds, pigeons, wood pigeons, goldfinches and redpols on the nyjer feeder and the occasional visit from a blackcap.
Glasnevin, Dublin, btw.

Durnish

I watched a real tragedy in my garden yesterday, a fieldfare attacked by a marauding magpie.

I saw the swoop and the chase then the capture. I interfered by banging on the window and the magpie flew off, leaving the wounded fieldfare in shock on the snow. We stared at this for a few minutes before I went to get some birdseed to feed the wee birdir with. Fortunately it flew off leaving behind the pattern of the chase and blood on the tracks.

slavetothegrind

We identified the redwing there yesterday also!

the blackbirds are not too happy with their presence!!

Drake66

Two Redwings have taken to staying around my garden feeding off the bird seed and breadcrumbs left out. There are also two song thrush, a number of male and female blackbirds, and robins keeping them company.

Itsdacraic

Is this lad a redwing or a thrush?

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^
it's a redwing, which is a member of the thrush family

here's two that were feeding at my back patio yesterday, today there was four:)



there was also a big fat mistlethrush nearby that went crazy anytime they were around

topper75

I'm not a birdwatcher really but I was fascinated for an hour or so with 3 of these lads picking at apples on the snow in my parents' back garden at the weekend. Really handsome little creatures. I have never seen the garden so busy nor with so many species feeding at once. Crows are serious garden bullies!

PhotoFanatic

I currently have around 50 redwings out the front of my house.
We have a tree that they're resting in, and directly underneath is a dense bush covered in red berries that they're all feeding on. It's beautiful to watch, it's a shame the battery for my camera wasn't charged. It's currently charging now, so hopefully they'll stay around for a bit longer. They've already been here nearly a week now. Loving it!

Hearvee

My neighbours garden had about 6 or 7 Redwing, a couple of Thrushes and a few Blackcaps, feeding off a bush which had red berries on it Fri/Sat.
No berries left on it at all now so the birds have disappeared too!