Beasts from The East
If you live in the UK, you’ve almost certainly heard of the recent weather warnings we’ve been getting, all thanks to a great deal of cold coming from the Siberia region. The air mass is being dubbed the ‘beast from the east’ very fitting of the bitterly cold breezes and below freezing temperature drops hitting us from the east coast.
The snowfall may be shutting our society down for the week, with chaos almost guaranteed to sweep the nation (Lets be honest we haven’t got the best track record with coping under these freezing circumstances), but we aren’t the only ones being affected by the cold weather. No, it’s not France. Its our great British wildlife, the animals we share our home with. Some animals find it difficult to cope, similar to us I suppose, and struggle to live in a frozen environment. Rivers and canals freeze over, so perhaps the regular paths that ducks, swans and moorhens take are altered, meaning unexpectant change and even challenge for them, that can lead to stress and abnormal behaviour or routine. Taking it one step further, the cold literally provides a challenge for some British animals, the minus temperatures are not ideal and hence many react to the challenge with coping mechanisms that just might push them towards survival. Whether it be huddling down in a cosy den like the water vole does or simply furrowing your head into your feathers like the mallard, our British animals have these techniques down to a T.
Its not always so hostile though, in fact, a colder Britain may be rather inviting for some. That’s right alongside the snow and sleet, some birds travel across the Northern sea to take up a short stay in Her Majesty’s land. And it isn’t to visit their cousins, nor is it to take pictures of Big Ben, we host these travellers for ecological reasons, rooted in survival.
2 of these visitors are the redwing (Turdus iliacus) and the fieldfare (Turdus pilaris), members of the thrush family who love the cold conditions. Members of the rspb have reported hundreds of these birds indulging in our winter berry bushes and enjoying bird feed and apples that bird enthusiasts are laying out. Here are the two beautiful winter thrushes, as provided by rspb, @andyjonesfoto1 and @Lacemoat
The birds may have been hiding in the countryside for a few months now, but as food supplies dwindle, they are forced to forage in the snow and indeed into people’s gardens. The charity are asking people to help these birds out by providing broken up apple, pears, suet or mealworms and to also remember that they need water, so its best to keep bird baths topped up and free of ice.
So, after these guys fatten up, what’s next for them? Well toward the end of March, they will fly back east to Scandinavia and even towards Iceland to nest.