Eye Spy Nature in November

The onset of colder weather means the autumn leaves rapidly fall from our deciduous trees, leaving a good view of the sky. This is the place to watch for our winter visitors. Redwings, which are attractive thrushes, have arrived from Scandinavia. You can see them in flocks of 20 to well over 100. They usually perch fairly high in trees en masse, and they chatter to one another in flight.

Fieldfares are larger, dark grey thrushes and tend to arrive in groups of around 12 to pick about on the ground, usually in pasture and stubble fields.

Like all members of the thrush family, these birds come to the UK to feed on our berries, hence the importance of maintaining plenty of hawthorn, holly and rowan on Petersfield Heath. To help you identify these birds, there is a brilliant comparison of our thrushes thanks to the British Trust for Ornithology. Improve your ID skills by viewing it here.