The recent cold
weather here and in
Northern Europe has
brought a large increase in
certain migrant birds to Ireland.
Two members of the thrush
family, the redwing and the
fieldfare, have appeared in
recent weeks in huge numbers.

These live and breed
in Scandinavia and Iceland
and visit Ireland in November
for a few months to
avoid the colder climate up
north.

They remain highly mobile
throughout the winter
and may fly south to Spain
or Portugal to finish the
winter. With rapid temperature
loss and lack of food,
they can experiance a large
mortality rate. Sadly, we
witnessed this throughout
January.

The redwing (pictured below)
is the least robust of
the thrush family. Its cousins,
the blackbird and the
robin, are far more resilient.
Our population of blackbirds
is thought to quadruple
in winter as they too fly
in from Scandinavia for a
milder climate and accessible
food sources.

The redwing has a famously
sporadic migration pattern,
with records showing
that birds may winter here
one year and as far away
as Syria or Italy the next.
The fieldfare (right) comes
south from Scandinavia, but
also the former Soviet Union
and the Baltic states.

Both species make their
migratory journey at night
when the air is cooler and
there are fewer thermal uplifts
coming off the land
or sea. They arrive at our
shores exhausted and can
be attacked by waiting
black-backed seagulls at the
shoreline. Many are forced
into the surf and eaten by
the gulls.

Normal migration takes
place and is completed by
mid-November, but in a severe
winter such as this one
they can still be atempting
the perilous voyage in January.
This, if coupled with
a bad rowan berry crop in
their homeland, can lead to
huge mortality rates.

The lucky ones would have
migrated early, stopped in
Ireland for a short break and
then continued on to Spain
or Portugal. Both species
are capable of having two
clutches of eggs per season,
with the redwing having
four to six eggs per clutch
and the fieldfare having two
to six. To get an idea of the
vast numbers of birds involved,
on January 10th Julian
Wyllie of the Irish Bird
Network reported from Sherkin
Island that fieldfares
and redwings were passing
over the island at a rate of
100 birds per minute.

Four days later at Ballinskelligs
on the South Kerry
coast, Michael OʼCleary
reported 5,000 to 6,000
fieldfares and 20,000 redwings
arriving in from the
sea.