In the area around the city centre there can be only two candidates, Fieldfare and Redwing.  I know Attenborough has its seven Bitterns and Colwick its Smew.  But the Scandinavian Thrushes have put on a superb month long show.  They appeared before new year in numbers not seen for many years.  In fact I have struggled to get good views or even to see the birds over the past few winters, they seem to miss us out.  Did the run of mild winters mean they did not cross the North Sea in their usual numbers?

This years cold snap has changed that.  At first they were nervous and flighty, leaving the Rowan trees whenever I got near. Then food got a little scarcer and I was able to get a closer. Now with the berries nearly gone they are coming to the ground and are very tame.

I have always thought them wasteful birds, dropping as many berries as they eat and not bothering to pick them up, not now.

It's special going out and hearing the harsh 'chacks' of the Fieldfare and the 'seeps' of the Redwing.  To see them flying across the leaden, snow filled sky or moving around the snow covered ground is like seeing them for the first time.