Submitted by RSPB Coombes Valley on Tue, 10/10/2017 - 18:59
It's officially autumn here at Coombes Valley, we have heard the echoes of bellowing red stags in the bottom of the valley and it's awesome!
Migratory redwings have started to arrive in the UK in numbers and we saw our first small flock over Coombes Valley today. Breeding in Iceland, Scandinavia and northern Europe, these birds can often be found feasting on berries in hedgerows and they are especially fond of hawthorn. An estimated 700,000 winter in Britain and Ireland.
Redwings are about the same size as song thrushes but are a duller grey-brown, with rusty-red flanks and underwings, and a creamy white stripe over the eye. Their thin "seeip" calls can frequently be heard at night as the birds migrate overhead.