The roads are almost back to normal, but the remains of the snow are still sitting on open ground and even the shy species of bird are venturing into the more populated areas in search of food. Among these are redwings and fieldfares, and – according to reports – waxwings (though I've not been fortunate enough to catch sight of one). There were plenty of redwings and fieldfares though. I took these shots at lunchtime, in fairly awkward light.
You can spot a redwing by the colour on the underside of the wing. 
Redwing
Redwing in flight
Redwings often flock with their larger cousins, the fieldfare (both are members of the thrush family). 
Fieldfare
With the snow fast diminishing, I made an extra effort to keep an eye on the garden this evening. The shy dog fox ran across the rear of the garden (successfully reaching cover before I could photograph him), but the bold vixen is rather more cooperative. Just one shot for now, but there will be more to follow.
The bold vixen
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, except the photo of the vixen which once again taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.
gdare
15 Jan 2010Entire cold wave that ran over Europe completely missed my part of the Balkan because of some winds that brought warm air from northern Africa. There was a lot of snow in areas less than 200km from Belgrade but over 13C here all the time :left:
Bold vixen is, as usual, a queen of todays post 😀
Flying Red Fox Blog
15 Jan 2010Lovelly photos 😀 especially the Fox in the Snow, They look so stunning with a snowy background. :yes:
The snow has all gone now, my Snow Fox has melted into a lump of dirty ice! 😆
Words
15 Jan 2010Erwin, thanks! It was nice to photograph some of the more unusual birds.
Words
15 Jan 2010Thanks Mark, it was nice to get one more evening with the vixen against the snow. Every winter I wait and wait for the snow, and then for the fox. Finally both came at the same time!
We've still got little bits of snow (really, it's more like ice) on the ground in some places, but another day and I think it will be gone.
Words
15 Jan 2010Darko, so you've had mild weather. That may change now. We're back to normal… rain, mist, a little bit more mild (but nowhere near 13C).
SittingFox
16 Jan 2010There certainly have been a lot of winter thrushes around this year. I wonder if they somehow sensed the coming cold snap; I hear it's been even more frigid in Norway :smurf: Certainly, I cannot recall any year when redwings and fieldfares were so widespread.
Great shots :up:
Ukwildlife
16 Jan 2010Nice pics. Ive certainly notices more redwings and fieldfares this year, sadly not in my garden!
Words
17 Jan 2010Adele, it seems that Sussex (and no doubt much of the south) is heaving with fieldfares and redwings at the moment. They're a very welcome sight. Odd that in the summer we also had that massive influx of Painted Ladies.
Words
17 Jan 2010Neil, these shots of the fieldfares/redwings were taken at work… the garden is much less exotic and the wood pigeons are still the dominant species out there.
CedarFox
17 Jan 2010We also seem have more thrushes than usual here. Normally there aren't any at all, but a few days ago there were at least six robins in the backyard at the same time! :right:
Words
17 Jan 2010Eric, the weather is playing havoc with local feeding grounds. It's gone quiet again now the snow has gone, but I expect a few of the more unusual visitors may still appear over the next few days. Six robins! Nice 😀
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012Lovely photos