Send us your wildlife sightings

Recording wildlife is an easy way to get involved in wildlife conservation. It is a way of helping us to monitor wildlife across the county to gain an understanding of an animal’s and plant’s distribution. Your sightings can help us identify areas which are especially important for wildlife and identify species in decline or under threat.

 

Fieldfare

The fieldfare is a large, colourful thrush that visits Norfolk from October through to March. During this time it can be seen feasting on berry-laden bushes in hedgerows, woodlands and parks. Fieldfares are sociable birds and can be seen in flocks of more than 200 birds roaming through the countryside. They often venture into gardens when there is snow cover or if it is a severe winter.

The fieldfare occurs throughout the British Isles in winter. It starts arriving in early October with first sightings occurring on the east coast; then they work their way through the country during the winter months. There is a very small breeding population of no more than 15 pairs in the UK, but this bird is very much at its southern breeding range. The UK breeding birds are confined to the far north in the Scottish Highlands. Due to the limited numbers of breeding pairs in the UK the fieldfare is classified here as Red under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2015) and it is protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.

 

Redwing

The redwing is a small thrush that visits Norfolk in the winter to feast on berry-laden bushes in hedgerows, orchards, parks and gardens. Redwings migrate here at night - on clear evenings listen out for their 'tsee' call overhead. They can often be spotted in flocks with fieldfares, moving from bush to bush looking for food. Apples and berry-producing bushes like hawthorn may attract redwings into your garden.

Classified in the UK as Red under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2015). Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. Listed as Near Threatened on the global IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
 

Brambling

The brambling is a winter migrant to Norfolk and typically arrives in September, returning to Scandinavia and Russian by April. This woodland species likes to feed on seeds and nuts, with beech masts being a particular favourite. They may be seen visiting garden feeders, especially if there is a shortage of food. Numbers to the UK may vary greatly and are very much dependent on the availability of food.

This bird is a Schedule 1 listed bird, protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Fieldfare

• According to the British Trust for Ornithology up to 1 million fieldfares cross the North Sea each October.
• The Spanish call fieldfares the royal thrush because of their upright stature and beautiful plumage.
• Fieldfares will nest in small colonies, giving them greater protection against predators and therefore a higher breeding success
• Fieldfares will aggressively defend the nest, often pelting intruders with droppings.
• Approximately 1 million fieldfares over winter in the UK.

Redwing

• Around 1 million redwings visit the UK in the winter, but only a handful of birds actually breed in the UK in the Scottish Highlands.
• Redwings migrate at night, moving generally when the sky is clear and the wind is in the east.
• Whilst migrating redwings keep in touch with one another through a high pitched call.
• Redwings breed in the northern taiga forests, typically building their nests on the ground.
• Redwings detect fruit using ultraviolet vision.

Brambling

• During the winter months there brambling numbers range between 45,000 to 1,800,000 individuals.
• Male bramblings tend to winter further north than the females.
• Bramblings make their nest from moss, lichen, heather and cobwebs.
• The name brambling is thought to derive from a German word linked to a bramble or thorny bush.
• During the winter bramblings prefer to feed on the ground in large flocks, but during the summer they feed up high in the woodland canopy.