This morning, leading a short training session organised by Pembroke 21C group (aimed at helping inexperienced birdwatchers) we saw reasonable, but not large, numbers of winter thrushes around about Pembroke. There were in excess of 60 blackbirds along the Commons area, smaller numbers of redwings, song thrushes and mistle thrushes but no fieldfares there. On plumage, the redwings were most likely to have been Icelandic-race iliacus coburni birds, appearing to be generally darker with darker and more intense breast-blotches than the nominate race.
Pembroke Millpond was very quiet this morning, no diving ducks at all and only five coot to be seen, but there were at least 15 or so little grebes, a couple now in summer plumage. A great-northern diver reported on the millpond a few days ago was nowhere to be seen today, presumably it has moved back Pembroke River. At Cosheston Pill, apart from the usual small numbers of waterfowl, it was also fairly quiet but its always nice to see a kingfisher there and the usual couple of greenshanks still present.
This afternoon, when doing a winter thrush survey square at Martletwy, there was a small flock of 35 fieldfares (the first flock recorded in the survey square for a few weeks now). They were feeding with about 500 starlings. There is one-less starling now, following a low-level attack by a male sparrowhawk, and also one-less fieldfare, it being eaten by the local resident buzzard at dusk! The ground was relatively soft and hardly any snow, but three woodcock were feeding in broad daylight in ditches close to a couple of field boundaries. A couple of yellowhammers were feeding with house sparrows and chaffinches in a village garden which is probably a bit unusual around here.
