Return of the Redwings
Our first Redwings on the berry-laden hawthorns by the canal. The first time we've heard their soft chuckling call for quite a while. Two years ago, when the hawthorns were crimson with berries, we had large flocks of redwing and fieldfare, then last year, which was a very poor year for berries, we had few birds arriving, and those did not stay long.
A morning mist rose waist-deep above a stretch of canal sheltered by a wooded slope.
As the first frosts begin to bite Golden lacewings are coming into houses. If you've ever wondered where flies go in winter, a number of them spend it in our loft, which is easily accessible (for flies, that is) by crawling under the terra cotta tiles. At this time of year, every time I bring down something from the loft we get one dozy house fly coming down with it, buzzing disconsolately around the studio until I let it out via the Velux window. It probably heads straight back for the roof tiles again.
Richard Bell's Nature Diary, 20th October 1998
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