Redwing season

 Each year I look forward to the arrival of Redwings and Fieldfares arriving from Scandinavia and Iceland. At night you can hear their calls as they pass overhead. Normally my first ones of the year are seen on my annual autumn trip to Shetland and this year was no exception. It was almost a month later that birds began filtering down to our NW corner of Cheshire and only more recently they began descending on the berry laden hawthorns in our garden.

Although I don't catch many I manage to ring a few every year at dawn & dusk and this year has been quite good for them. Interestingly the majority of the birds I initially caught were adults with a second wave of mainly juveniles. The ones I've been catching are the Scandinavian race 'iliacus'. Redwing arrivals sometimes coincide with big arrivals of Song Thrushes and I caught two recently  - the only two I've caught in the four years we've lived here! 

Redwings can be aged by the white tips to the greater coverts and tertials. Adults have plain greater coverts and tertials whereas young birds have the white tips. The shape of the tail feathers is also a help in ageing as it is with most passerines. Younger birds have more pointed tail feathers whereas adults are rounder.

Above: Redwing Euring age 3 (1st calendar year) showing white tipped juvenile greater coverts.

Below: Redwing Euring age 3 showing white tips to tertials.

Above and below: upper and lower tail photos of juvenile Redwing tail showing how narrow and pointed the tail feathers are. Comparew this to the adult lower down.

Below: adult Redwing tail showing broad blunt tail feathers.

From the photos above you can also see the variation in the dark centres to the undertail coverts. Bothmthese birds are the same Scandinavian race and the Icelandic race, coburni. See here for details of a trip to Fair Isle where we caught both races side by side.

Both Song Thrushes were young birds identifiable by the 'rose thorn' patterned tips to the greater coverts and median coverts.

It's great to see Song Thrushes in the hand again. Although we've several pairs breeding locally that feed in the garden they're very secretive and don't come in when theres activity outside! 

Below: mist nets set in the garden for Redwing.