As I sat in the living room this early afternoon entertaining my grandchildren, I realised a couple of Redwings were feeding on the holly berries in my front garden.  This is by no means an annual occurrence and I have only had them in the garden a few times in the last 30 years, the last time in late December 2009 and then the next month in January.   I set up my camera in the back room and when they returned, I took the opportunity to get a couple of pictures as they crept quietly to the berries. Redwings are thrushes – members of the turdus family of birds – they are migratory birds and are one of the first winter visitors to arrive in the UK.  They move in to the suburbs only when the berries in more rural habitats have been depleted.   This is a  very attractive species which I find interesting because they have migrated all the way from their breeding grounds – a few pairs breed in Northern Scotland but the majority nest in Northern Europe and Asia and then over-winter in Western and Southern Europe.  I may get more photos tomorrow if they visit again, they may possibly but in the meantime, here is a photograph that I took when they came in to the garden the last time. Then, they were feeding on cotoneaster berries.