A mutation of thrushes

Once we pass mid-October and get into the start of November, autumn birding can become frustrating as many of our summer visitors will have departed, and we await the arrival of many winter birds. It is at this time of year I cross my fingers hoping for my first encounter with some winter favourites. Soon the winter birds will trickle into my local area and sometimes the floodgates can open, and they can quite suddenly arrive in very big numbers, much to my delight.

Normally, during my late autumn sorties to find winter arrivals I am often distracted by our local resident birds, and these include blackbird and mistle thrush as both these resident birds experience a dramatic increase in population as resident birds are supplemented by large numbers arriving from North and Central Europe. Persistence will pay and this October I should reap the rewards with sightings of song thrush and the bonus of an early sighting of ring ouzel as they visit a few of the natural springs in my area, surrounded by Hawthorn and berries, in the high oak woodlands of the famous Llanos de Líbar, these water sources are a draw for arriving winter birds. It should be enough to keep this old birder happy and enforce the determination to continue with my diligent search for more early winter arrivals.

I will also venture to the upland meadow of Llanos de Líbar, beyond the woodland, and hope to witness a fall of migrant black redstart with some views of northern wheatear who are usually harassed by an equally good number of whinchat, both handsome birds and they normally provide a great morning's birding. Of course, other favourites could put in an appearance in the coming weeks. I can normally count on siskin, white wagtail, water and meadow pipit in October, and some years Brambling can add to the thrills of late autumn and early winter birding.

And yet, this time of year in my area is best highlighted by the arrival of thrushes and some years it can be spectacular with huge numbers appearing in mixed flocks of mistle thrush, blackbird, ring ouzel, song thrush, redwing and if I get lucky, the handsome fieldfare.

Note: The correct term for a group of thrushes is a 'mutation'. This term goes back to a belief held in ancient Roman and Greek empires, which was still current in the Middle Ages and even later. "It's a recognised fact amongst naturalists that thrushes acquire new legs and cast off the old ones when about ten years old." There were some mightily strange naturalists back in the day!

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