Winter thrushes

Yes, I know, it's been a very long time since my last post. Not the best of months those past few ones... So I'm going to try and do a few catch-up posts.
We've never had this winter the numbers of Redwings we had the previous one. I think the most I've seen at once were 30-35, twice, around the new year, whereas we had over 50 well into March last year. And since mid-January we've had about 3 knocking about, feeding on the ground since all the berries were gone a long time ago. Being so few, they are a lot trickier to find...

Not the best of photos, that bird was way too fast and this was the only passable one I managed, but I like how the light is making its legs look almost translucent 

The bonus this year has been a pair of Mistle Thrush since mid January. Mistle Thrushes usually only pass by, are harassed by the local Jays and Magpies, and move on. But, this time, one month on, they're still here, usually to be found together in the same area.  I have seen behaviour that looked like courtship once and another time it looked like they might be building a nest. So I'm crossing all I can, it would be a first...

I never thought of Redwings as being particularly small but this one really does next to a Mistle Thrush...

I am giving flickr a try for my photos, you can see a few more of these birds here.