General (county) update - 16th January 2011

• Having been frustrated with sightings of waxwings from all over the country, let alone county, I thought I'd turn into a "twitcher" for the day and go and find some, locally.



• For those of you who aren't aware, waxwings are rare winter visitors most years, coming over from Scandanavia, to the east coast of the UK, to feast on any berries over here with their cousins, the winter thrushes (redwing and fieldfare).



• Some years a hundred or so come over, but just occasionally, we get a winter like we have this year - when thousands come over, after a berry failure in their native northern lands.



• The latin name for waxwing is Bombycilla garrulus which literally means "chattering silk tail" but in English, we call them the waxwing after the little red "waxy" projections on their wings, visible in many good photos.



• Waxwings are starling sized and very striking in good light. Click here and press PLAY to hear their very distinctive call -and this year will go down in ornithologists records as one of the best years for UK winter waxwings in very many years - I just had to try and find some this morning.



• Its not too hard to find waxwings when so many come over to Britain - they hang around berry trees (rowan, holly etc...) and these berry trees are often ornamental trees / shrubs srrounding supermarket car parks etc... One doesn't have to hike into the countryside to see these birds - one merely has to go to a supermarket which is surrounded by berry-laden shrubs. For example, the Aylesbury Morrisons, the Bracknell Sainsburys, or where I went today, the Calcot Porsche showroom....!



• Even though the light was very low (overcast) and it was blowing a hooly, I managed a couple of photos where at least you can see that it was waxwings I was watching this morning, and not elephants!



• It was a real treat to see these stunning birds - a dozen all in all - and it has made me even more determined to plant plenty of berry bushes if and when Anna and I buy a house and garden of our own one day...



• It may be forty years or so again before we get thousands of waxwings over, and I may even be dead by then, but I'll give it a go!



• Please click the (very poor) photos above (twice) to see them full size.