Chatty fieldfares' warm welcome

Mild maritime climate of the UK suits these hefty thrushes just fine as they fatten up before spring

- Stuart Winter

A rat-a-tat-tat of bird calls shatters the silence but not the solemnity of figures ringed around a village green memorial with heads bowed in respect.

Long after the bugle notes of the Last Post drift away in the late morning breeze, the incessant drum roll being tapped out by flocks of fieldfares heading west continues into the late morning.

Nothing hushes the constant chatter of these hefty thrushes in uniforms of brown, ochre and battleship grey as they retreat from the harshness of the northern winter.