21st January 2024 – Rodborough Common, Gloucestershire

Today we saw what I consider to be the holy grail of birds to be seen in this country – waxwings.

Waxwing

It’s only the third time I have tried to “twitch” a bird and, fortunately, today’s trip to Rodborough Common in the Cotwolds was well worth the effort.

Waxwings do not breed in the UK, but are winter visitors. In some years, we see larger numbers of visiting waxwings, called irruptions, when the population in their breeding grounds in Fennoscandia and western Russia gets too big for the food available.

On Rodborough Common there were plenty of their favourite berries, particularly rowan, hawthorn and rose to keep them happy.

The waxwings certainly kept us happy.

Slideshow of photos from this morning:

Comments

3 responses to “21st January 2024 – Rodborough Common, Gloucestershire”

  1. chrisbrewster2013 Avatar

    Great photos Martin, looks a lovely area too. Amazing that so many have moved so far south too. 🙂
    Sent from my iPhone

    Liked by 1 person

    1. martintayler Avatar

      It’s great for skylarks in spring

      Like

  2. Linzi Avatar
    Linzi

    Wonderful photos, Martin- what a treat!

    Liked by 1 person

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