One Rayleigh resident told us that last weekend in Grays he saw some waxwings for the first time in his life. In fact he saw 28 of them.
If you are not sure what a waxwing is, the Essex Wildlife Trust explains that
Essex Wildlife Trust would like to hear from anybody who spots Waxwings within the county. Email: michelek@essexwt.org.uk with your sightings and pictures.
.
This year has seen the largest arrival of Waxwings in the UK for many years. They have had a successful breeding season in Scandinavia and have exhausted their food supplies, so have come to the UK and Essex as they need berry bearing bushes and trees for food. They are a beautiful plump bird, slightly smaller than a starling with a mix of stunning colours and a prominent crest on their heads. The Waxwing is reddish-brown with a black throat, a small black mask round its eyes, yellow and white in the wings and a yellow-tipped tail.
.
They can be seen in large flocks and are a real wildlife spectacle. There is a real chance that these birds may turn up in urban areas such as gardens, parks and even supermarket car parks. They are often seen in flocks, feeding high up and can be heard by their distinctive trilling call. ..)
The Essex WT website has a long list of sightings in Essex, including 40 in Rayleigh on Jan 31st.
Hornchurch blogger Martin Blow has some fine pictures of waxwings on his website http://blowmonkeybirding.blogspot.com
With his permission, here’s some examples (click on the thumbnails two or three times to enlarge):
Martin doesn’t only blog about birds – he also has a sighting of the rare and valuable Gianfranco Zola
There have been some Waxwings in Sweyne Park too!
Did you see them? How many?!
I didn’t see them myself but a colleague from the Friends of Sweyne Park did – they were only here for a couple of days and we believe they have now gone. 🙁
If you google “rayleigh” and “waxwings” you can find a few more pictures and sightings…