Paul's Back Garden Safari

Saw the first fieldfare of this autumn in the garden this morning. the photos are not too good as it was early morning and the sky overcast. But it's definitely a fieldfare. It was feeding on the Rowan or Mountain Ash. Unusually it was on it's own, and I couldn't see any others around. Although we tend to get a little excited about seeing fieldfares in the UK, they are common in Europe. I was in Poznan, Poland earlier in the year, and the local park across the road was chock full of fieldfares feeding, squabbling and protecting their territories. The Welsh name for the Fieldfare is Socan Eira, meaning 'snow lover' or 'little snow gaiters'. Possibly a reference to the fact that they are winter visitors (1). In Polish it's Kwiczol (2), which is something similar to the call they make to my mind which is a harsh 'chack-chack'. It is a winter migrate from northern Europe, but there are records of breeding in the UK. They start to arrive in the...