Fieldfare ( Turdus pilaris )

When I drew the curtains this morning the world was still white and going by the frost last night hard frozen.  A movement caught my eye in the Crab Apple tree, there was a fieldfare scouting out the windfalls below the tree.  The area below the tree sheltered by the hedges had very little snow so it would be able to see a food source.

Fieldfare are one of the two "Winter Thrushes" that arrive each autumn from Scandinavia.  Interestingly their conservation status in the UK is red while on the continent it is "least concern".  This is probably because the number of birds arriving here has fallen.  This is possibly because with climate change they are finding suitable winter havens nearer home.

92% of UK tetrads (2Kmx 2Km square) have Fieldfares during the winter.

P.S.For my record Don finally made it to London yesterday and as far as I know managed to fly home today.