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Snowing heavily, dark outside, birds flying around??

AnnaBAnnaB Posts: 524
in Wildlife gardening
Its 7.30pm and snowing heavily here up our 'mountain' in Wales. Opened the door to let dog out and a bird flew in. Landed on dog in doorway (great confusion!) and soared up to the rafters. Grabbed cat and threw it into another room followed by said dog. Bird fluttering around and ended up down at floor level behind furniture. Through still open door I saw more birds flying round farm yard area. Carefully caught said bird and took it outside, put it on top of a high fence in the lee of the old adjoining barn. Lots of birds still flying around so I turned off all outside lights when there seemed a lull in the activity. Did I do the right thing? What were they all doing at this time of night? Any suggestions? Sorry for the long post.

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited November 2019
    Think you did the best thing in the circumstances. Sometimes the reflected light from the snow at night is confusing for wildlife ... especially the first snows of the season. 

    Brrr!  Keep warm ❄️ 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • AnnaBAnnaB Posts: 524
    Sorry I should have said. It was a beautifully marked thrush, but possibly not full sized. Saw a second thrush but other birds were smaller.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    edited November 2019
    Any idea what kind if bird it was? The snow is certainly a surprise and it can make nocturnal hunting much easier for some animals.

    Just saw your post above. Could be a redwing or fieldfare. Since they're newly arrived migrants they may have caused a territorial dispute over the best roosting spots.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • AnnaBAnnaB Posts: 524
    Thank you for your quick responses. I think you are probably correct @dovefromabove , the lights and the snow may have confused them all. All quiet now an hour later - no lights on and snow slowing down.
  • AnnaBAnnaB Posts: 524
    Thank you @wild edges I have just checked and am sure that the bird was a redwing - pretty little thing. Hope you didn't get too much snow last night over your way.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    There's been a recent influx of redwings apparently. I'm keeping an eye on the berries in the garden but no luck so far.

    The roads are clear here but everything else has a good covering of slushy snow. It's the horrible wet snow that sticks to everything and flattens all the plants then turns slushy and seems to make everything twice as wet as rain does.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • WeaveyDaveyWeaveyDavey Posts: 575
    Aren't you lucky, @AnnaB ?? All we have in coastal SW Wales is that biting NE wind - near gale force and, yes, it's upsetting our roosting birds too! *There's a roost of about 250 assorted generations of rooks, crows & jackdaws in the wooded area about 100 yards from home. They've been milling around all day long & towards dusk they seemed to be getting more frantic, rather than settling in for the night! Stay snug & warm.
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