As I mentioned yesterday the birds are back in the garden after being missing in action for a while. A new visitor was a Song thrush. The RSPB states that its numbers are suffering a serious decline, putting it on their red list. It's clearly not a rare bird in the UK (there are over a million breeding pairs) but I must say I don't see very many of them.
How can I be sure this isn't a Mistle thrush? Well I can't absolutely – they are really very similar, but the Mistle thrush is greyer, bigger and more 'upright' in its stance apparently. They're also much rarer.
There was a thrush singing on the very top of a very high tree at the oval this afternoon when I walked the dog..couldn’t see it properly as it was so far away but I know their song well from seeing one regularly in the spring down by the river!
You can be sure it’s a Song Thrush. Mistle thrushes are also different in the shape of the spots, which are round as opposed to ‘heart-shaped’ in the song thrush.