The waxwing, from Scandinavia, is
just one of a number of unusual birds that has been seen in huge numbers this
year
By Tom Herbert
14:00, 9 APR 2017
The south east has seen a huge
rise in the number of unusual birds visiting UK gardens.
Bird fans saw an explosion in the
number of waxwings, a Scandinavian migrant bird that flocks to the UK only once
every seven to eight years.
The bird, which has a prominent
crest and black masks around its eyes, only visits us when the berry crop fails
in their native land, in a process known as "irruption".
It meant that in 2017's RSPB Big
Garden Birdwatch in January, the striking looking bird was seen in south east
gardens around 19 times more than in previous years.
The boom also extends to birds
such as redwing and fieldfare, as the sub-zero temperatures on the continent
forced them to go in search of milder conditions.
The south east saw numbers of
redwing triple while our gardens saw a five-fold increase in fieldfare
sightings.
Dr Daniel Hayhow, RSPB
Conservation Scientist, said: "There was some speculation as to whether we
could see a ‘waxwing winter’ and the results prove that to be the case.
"Flocks of these striking
looking birds arrived in the UK along the North Sea coast and will have moved
across the country in search of food, favouring gardens where they can feast on
berries.
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