Fieldfares

 Had my first good view this autumn of a fieldfare yesterday, feeding on hawthorn berries in the Tunstall valley, Weardale. I've seen and heard them in the distance over the last couple of weeks but it's surprisingly difficult to get close to these wary birds, that are always on the move. There's an excellent berry crop here this autumn, which should attract many more.

The pictures below are birds from earlier years. Once the hawthorn berry crop dwindles they become less wary, and when snow falls in winter they sometimes visit the garden to feed on crab apples. I always put old, damaged eating apples out for them in late winter. 

Fieldfare feeding frenzy

Thousands of fieldfares, arriving from Scandinavia and Russia, have passed through Weardale over the last few weeks, gorging themselves with this year's heavy crop of hawthorn berries.

They have a methodical way of stripping off the haws, at an incredibly rapid rate.

First, the lunge ....

.... and then the grab ....

.... followed by a sharp twist and a tug to pull it from its stalk ...

.... then a brief pause followed by little toss of the head to send the berries down into the gullet. 

This one downed seven in under a minute

More about their feeding preferences in the Guardian Country Diary today