Wings

Another sad-but-interesting addition to my frozen menagerie - a Redwing that had died after flying into a window.

Before I put it in the freezer (for later study - not eating), I stretched out its wings and wondered about

the night-time journey on which the same feathers, muscles and bones carried it across the North Sea
where did it make landfall? Scotland? Yorkshire? Suffolk?
where it hatched last year - Sweden or Russia, perhaps?
and saw how it still had fragments of soil stuck to its toes.

I suppose it must have been foraging amongst the leaf litter until a few minutes before it died. It's really quite sad.

photo taken with Canon EOS 30D

Lodge thrushes

Progress is a bit slow, with few birds that are close enough, and not enough time to sneak up on those that are not!

Redwing

Robin

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, Extender EF 1.4x II

How do they do it?

9.45pm

Darren is outside in the garden, smoking. A very bad habit indeed, but it has its uses - he's hearing Redwings flying over in the dark!

I think many people associate hearing Redwings' high-pitched 'seeeep' calls with their southbound autumn migration. But tonight came as a reminder that they have to go back the other way, too.

I assumed previously that night migrants such as Redwings would pick a clear night to migrate, assuming that the stars help them plot a course, but this evening it's been drizzling heavily and the skies are 100% cloudy. How on earth are they managing to find their way?

Nobody seems quite sure.

I wonder if artificial lighting comes into it? When coming in to land at a British airport under cover of darkness, you can easily pick out street lights in built-up areas and along major routes, even from quite high up. The Europeans are much better at using energy-saving, light-pollution limiting lights.

Some links to interesting migration-themed features:

• BBC - The mystery of migration
• Science Frontiers - Do birds use genetic maps during migration?
• RSPB - Migration
• BTO - How migration works
• WWT - Swan migration satellite tracking project
• Greenshank.info - Migration Story