Fieldfare in Finland

Fieldfare

Probably the commonest bird we saw in Finland last month was the beautiful Fieldfare in breeding plumage.

They were nesting in the parks in all the little towns we visited and were their equivalent of our blackbird seeking worms on all the lawns around.

Super to see their plumage in summer as oppose to the winter views we normally get.

Fieldfare

Fieldfare

Song thrushes

It's very unusual to find a songthrush nest that is easily photographable without causing disturbance so I was delighted to find such a nest a week ago when I saw the adult bird sat on the nest about 6 feet up the side of the trunk of an oak tree.

The bird sat tight when people walked along the footpath which was just a few feet away and I thought that it was incubating it's eggs. The next time I looked the bird was noticeably higher in the nest with it's feathers fluffed out around the side.
When I looked again a few days later I saw 4 large chicks that looked just about ready to fledge.

I took some shots yesterday using a remote control where I left the camera on a tripod on the footpath with the 500mm lens giving a safe distance and I retired some 25 metres away and watched the adult birds returning with food through my binoculars whilst triggering the camera remotely.

Here are some of the images......

Songthrush nest

Songthrush nest

Songthrush nest