On 27th August I was walking in Bushy park.

The day was overcast with a northerly breeze. Suddenly a flock of abut twenty redwings flew rapidly south, followed by another smaller group a half an hour later.

These sightings really surprised me as usually the birds don't fly in from Scandinavia until mid-September at the earliest.

I always look forward to the redwing's arrival together with their larger cousin the fieldfare to brighten up our winter, I never thought I would see them in August, but autumn does appear to be closing in.

Last winter there were fewer redwings about compared with the previous two years so I hope we can look forward to a normal redwing winter.

It was also surprising to see them arriving in daylight as redwings usually begin their migration flights at night, and it is sometimes possible to hear them after dark uttering their thin 'seep-seep' contact calls as they fly overhead in a southerly direction.

So, if we stand outside on a crisp star spangled night we may hear those redwings and if fortunate, there could be tawny owls hooting in the background. Magical moments!

Incidentally, the familiar 'twit-twoo' of tawny owls is usually a duet between male and female with the 'twit' of the female being answered by the 'twoooo' of the male.

Pictured is a redwing amid 'berried treasure'.