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UK bird with crest (1 Viewer)

mancroft

Member
Hello

I am in Norwich, UK and recently saw a flock of about a dozen birds in Norwich city center.

Description:

Crest on top of head.
About the size of a blackbird.
Greyish color.
Black stripe running back from eye.
White stripe near beak.
Some had a red stripe in the wing.


Any ideas as to what these are?

Thanks.
 
What you saw there were Waxwings - well done! These are getting people excited about now, as they are not strictly speaking 'British' birds, but have come in from the Continent, which they do in varying numbers every year, but this year seems like being a very good one. (See the Waxwing thread below if you are interested)
 
Hi Mancroft, welcome to birdforum from all the staff here, we hope you enjoy the site.
Yep, it's a priviledge to see Waxwings in the U.K. some winters are better than others, this seems to be a good winter for these birds.

Here's a photo and some details of the bird from our birdforum bird database

http://www.birdforum.net/bird_view.php?bid=1438


cheers,
Andy
 
Yes, they just love berries... trees loaded with brightly coloured berries, so beloved of town planners, mean that Waxwings often appear in the most unlikely of settings... the centre of new towns like Stevenage and Milton Keynes are quite reliable locations to see these birds.
 
helenol said:
Welcome to Birdforum.net Mancroft.

I'd love to see these birds. Don't they have a liking for Tesco carparks?
They've got a liking for places that I'm not at, that's all I know.

Not that I'm getting bitter or anything ;)
 
helenol said:
Welcome to Birdforum.net Mancroft.

I'd love to see these birds. Don't they have a liking for Tesco carparks?

They do seem to hang around supermarket car parks and especially Tesco's as you said. I read somewhere that this is because of Tesco's policy of planting cotoneaster around their car parks. Certainly the car park that I saw waxwings in some years ago seemed to have areas where the cotoneater bushes had been thoroughly stripped and other areas still untouched!

I'm sure you'll see some soon.

Regards,
Keith
 
Nice one.

Last autumn 700 waxwings were sighted in scotland. In the past couple of weeks there has been 1,000 seen in Inverness and 1,300 in aberdeenshire.

I still haven't seen any |:(|
Still time yet



James
Scotland
 
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Ahoy!

I just found this thread while searching for information on some birds I just saw in my garden this morning, and thought the folks here might be interested.

As it happens I also live in Norwich. I pretty much had a tree full of what I think must have been Bohemian Waxwings, though it would be helpful if the wiser heads here could confirm it. You can see a picture I snapped here: http://www.arksark.org/blog/4382/a-strange-flock/

I don't think I've ever seen such birds before. I hope they come back.
 
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Ahoy!

I just found this thread while searching for information on some birds I just saw in my garden this morning, and thought the folks here might be interested.

As it happens I also live in Norwich. I pretty much had a tree full of what I think must have been Bohemian Waxwings, though it would be helpful if the wiser heads here could confirm it. You can see a picture I snapped here: http://www.arksark.org/blog/4382/a-strange-flock/

I don't think I've ever seen such birds before. I hope they come back.

Those are Waxwings all right.

Well done.
 
Those are Waxwings all right.

Well done.

Thanks :) There must have been about 50 of them. I've not seen them since they flew off though.

Edit: Yay, they came back! Only about 10 of them this time though. I guess they must be living locally. they seem quite fond of my Sycamore tree.
 
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There has been lots in Norwich recently!
I saw 80 at the UEA the other day which was a nice suprise after an hours walk produced 6 .. yes 6 species.
Im hoping a few will head Costessey way, but with the blackbirds rapidly eating my berries I doubt they will find any food if they hold on much longer..
 
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