A Fieldfare!

Three hours birding around the Holme Pierrepont complex just east of Nottingham on the south side of the River Trent. Three Smew, all redheads, were the highlights of the morning although they were all pretty distant. I added a couple of birds to the year list, as you do this time of year. One of them was a Fieldfare! But just the one! Still no Song Thrush and no Mistle Thrush. However 24 Redwing was a bit more positive. I was talking to a young birder who assured me that there were loads of Redwing and Fieldfare just west of the main lake, feeding in paddocks and a campsite where the grass is kept just right for thrushes so off I popped. Not a single bloody bird!
I couldn't get anywhere near any birds to photograph so had to make do with this shot of a dead job. I think it was a Chaffinch and I think it has been lunch for a Sparrowhawk.

Sparrowhawk kill! Chaffinch remains?

Blott's Pit held good numbers of common waterfowl - lots of Tufties, Pochard and Wigeon, Coot and Mallard but grebe numbers were low as was most everything else. Still the reeds looked decent in the light as the mist rose.

Common Reed Phragmites australis

So six days in and I've found just one Fieldfare, twenty odd Redwings, thirty odd Blackbirds and no Song or Mistle Thrushes. How long will this continue?