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My garden is full of very busy British birds going about deciding where to nest this year.

I've got the usual assortment of greenfinches, blue-tits, great-tits, blackbirds etc but over the past week there has been a pair of birds that i have not seen before.

As we have had builders in and there is still decorating going on, my books are boxed up and i'm not sure what these are. They are out there every day and have been feeding off berries on the 'firethorn' tree. They are showing great interest also in the eaves of one wall.

It looks like a thrush but bigger. It has a speckled breast and a dull brown colour.

This is West Country area so anyone got any idea's please??

A fieldfare.

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spot;1133451 wrote: Like on Surfbirds Online Photo Gallery Search Results


Yes, that looks like the culprits...... a Fieldfare.

I shall do some googling on the. Thanks Spot.

Howe exciting to have them in my little garden :-6:-6

oscar;1133481 wrote: Yes, that looks like the culprits...... a Fieldfare.

I shall do some googling on the. Thanks Spot.

Howe exciting to have them in my little garden :-6:-6


They're carnivorous, you know. They eat cats.

Spot: Beat me to it.

Quite common when you notice them. Winter visitors. Migrate to Russia (and prob other places too) last I recall.

Saw some sort of swallowtail butterfly and some sort of leaf-cutting bee I've never seen before, last summer. Things are moving.

oscar;1133445 wrote: My garden is full of very busy British birds going about deciding where to nest this year.

I've got the usual assortment of greenfinches, blue-tits, great-tits, blackbirds etc but over the past week there has been a pair of birds that i have not seen before.

As we have had builders in and there is still decorating going on, my books are boxed up and i'm not sure what these are. They are out there every day and have been feeding off berries on the 'firethorn' tree. They are showing great interest also in the eaves of one wall.

It looks like a thrush but bigger. It has a speckled breast and a dull brown colour.

This is West Country area so anyone got any idea's please??


its the lesser spotted gordon brown tit

You got me :yh_rotfl

Thought it would be about the new facebook thing.

Oh, and by the way, it's "Twitcher" not "twitterer"!:wah:

Or were you teasing?)

Clodhopper;1133712 wrote: Oh, and by the way, it's "Twitcher" not "twitterer"!:wah:

Or were you teasing?)


I got mixed up there. A twitterer is what Mr O and i call elderly people who complain all the time. Of course, it's Twitcher. :wah:

Right..... the little fella's have been out in the garden today on the berrys again and it is definately not a Fieldfare.

I did some googling on Fieldfare's and they have a slightly different colour to the head in a similar way to a Jackdaw. Also, from what i read, the Fieldfare tends to be a fruit eater and not berry's.

Looking at them again today after looking at pics of a Fieldfair on the net, we both agree this is bigger than a Fieldfare. The net says the Fieldfare is bigger than the thrush but these chaps are still a little bigger.

I do get those pesky Sparrowhawks and the female has a speckled breast so just incase anyone thinks it might be this, then no.

Any more clues anyone??

el guapo;1133625 wrote: its the lesser spotted gordon brown tit


No, your confusing that with the 'Cameron' bird which is 'The Great Tit'.

spot;1133482 wrote: They're carnivorous, you know. They eat cats.


Have you seen the size of my cats? :wah:

oscar;1133770 wrote: I got mixed up there. A twitterer is what Mr O and i call elderly people who complain all the time. Of course, it's Twitcher. :wah:

Right..... the little fella's have been out in the garden today on the berrys again and it is definately not a Fieldfare.

I did some googling on Fieldfare's and they have a slightly different colour to the head in a similar way to a Jackdaw. Also, from what i read, the Fieldfare tends to be a fruit eater and not berry's.

Looking at them again today after looking at pics of a Fieldfair on the net, we both agree this is bigger than a Fieldfare. The net says the Fieldfare is bigger than the thrush but these chaps are still a little bigger.

I do get those pesky Sparrowhawks and the female has a speckled breast so just incase anyone thinks it might be this, then no.

Any more clues anyone??


A photo' would be useful

Bryn Mawr;1133773 wrote: A photo' would be useful


Just don't creep too close, they'll have your eyes out as soon as look at you.

Bryn Mawr;1133773 wrote: A photo' would be useful


On this side of the garden, we are fortunate to have floor to cieling windows. The little chaps are paying great attention to the eaves above these windows and the Firethorn Berrys that is right outside one window so tomorrow, i will sit patiently and try to get them on film. Good idea.

:)

spot;1133775 wrote: Just don't creep too close, they'll have your eyes out as soon as look at you.


If we were talking about local 'Buzzards' Spot, that would be very true.

Redstart. Looks quite similar....

Dammit - can't find my birdbook.

Blimey Gill, it sounds calamitous. You have my sympathy, whatever triggered it.

Clodhopper;1133796 wrote: Redstart. Looks quite similar....

Dammit - can't find my birdbook. Thanks Cloddy but i just googled Redstart and No, definately not them.

Mine is quite large, speckled chest and dull brown colour. Normal coloured beak.

Mr O has just added that the 'Songthrush' is bigger than these chaps.

Mr O may well be right. There is definitely one thrush which is noticeably bigger than the others. Fieldfare and Redstart are both thrush family (iirc...), but apart from them I'm out of suggestions. Sorry!

Oh, just one thought - you aren't looking at a female blackbird, are you?

Clodhopper;1133848 wrote: Mr O may well be right. There is definitely one thrush which is noticeably bigger than the others. Fieldfare and Redstart are both thrush family (iirc...), but apart from them I'm out of suggestions. Sorry!

Oh, just one thought - you aren't looking at a female blackbird, are you?


Thanks. No, definately not a female blackbird. I have to go out now so i will google some more when i get home. Thanks for taking an interest.

Is it a cuckoo?

If it has a huge tail it might be a hobby.

Is it maybe a Redwing?????????

spot;1133896 wrote: Is it a cuckoo?

If it has a huge tail it might be a hobby.


Thanks for all the interest but tonight, the mystery has been solved.

On arriving home, our old neighbour came out as we were getting out the car and said (in a West Country accent), 'errrrre Peeeeeeeeete... I see you got 'Mistle Thrush' then?

On googling, we find this is indeed, the very chaps:

The RSPB: Mistle thrush

How interesting? I've never had these in the garden before.

I'd rather discounted the possibility on the grounds that it's a thrush.

spot;1134012 wrote: I'd rather discounted the possibility on the grounds that it's a thrush.


I have never heard of a Mistle Thrush if i were honest. If i'd had my books to hand, i probably would have identified him earlier. We were looking at them today and asking weather it was a Thrush after all but it was the size that made us think different. It makes me wonder if they have been in the garden before but we just thought they were Thrush's.

I hope they nest

oscar;1134021 wrote: I hope they nest :)Defrost a chicken carcass a day and stake it out for them on the bird table, I'm sure they will.

spot;1134031 wrote: Defrost a chicken carcass a day and stake it out for them on the bird table, I'm sure they will. :wah::wah:

No fear..... I'll have those pesky Buzzards everywhere.