Remnants of red

In my garden, I have four pyracantha, ranging from pale orange to vivid red. In Spring, they are covered in a blanket of pure white blossom, while the berries give welcome colour during the bleaker days of winter. That is... until the blackbirds feast! Each blackbird is a miniature berry stripping automaton; peck, swallow, peck, swallow, peck... It is fascinating to see the speed at which one bird can de-berry a whole section of plant.

This year, there was added interest as the blackbirds were joined by another type of bird. I had to look it up. And even then, I wasn't convinced that I had actually got it right (until a friend confirmed sightings in her garden), but yes; the brownish speckled breast, the distinctive flash of red under the wing - I really had been visited by a group of around five redwings!

Being in a city, albeit fairly close to the edge, my garden is not often graced by unusual or rare birds, so this really was an unexpected treat!