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| An apple tree in a very weak winter sun. |
I walked into an orchard yesterday and it exploded in a chuckling, chattering grey mass of fieldfares. This highly sociable thrush comes to these shores from Scandinavia during the autumn and feeds on berries. This year they probably feasted on our berries, but I've already bored you with the super abundance of hedgerow fruits this year! If you walk or drive down the lanes the fieldfares burst from the hedgerows in alarm and are a marvelous spectacle which would cheer anyone up.
The local name for them is 'felts' and they seem to come here in great numbers, albeit they are on the RSPB's red list. I expect they were in the orchard feeding on the windfall apples, which must be rather sugary by now have been frozen and thawed so many times over the last few weeks.
Rich, this post is lovely in just about every way.
ReplyDeleteWhat Gaw said. Also, as ever, the photos are beautiful. I love the lower one - so nearly monochrome, with those little blazes of hot red - and the long shadows, so redolent of an English winter day.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, both!
ReplyDeleteHi Richard,
ReplyDeleteThere definitely seems to be an abundance of birds at the moment.
The rear of our property backs on to a wooded bridle track and it's a bit like an aviary right now.
Now the leaves have all finally fallen from the main Oak tree, we even caught sight of the Woodpecker last Sunday, although it wasn't there for long enough for Mr.G to get his camera out.
Your photos are brilliant, as always!
Yvonne
Hi Yvonne
ReplyDeleteThanks very much! I love the way woodpeckers fly - up and down, up and down and then pitching back down on the grass!
Best Wishes
Richard