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.

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: