We don’t often see redwings in our garden on the western edge of central London. It is not their natural territory.  Occasionally when mid-winter weather has been very cold, with frost-hardened ground, they will venture to the city for food. Two days ago I was watching a pair of blackbirds apparently courting in a tree at the end of the garden, when 5 redwings landed in the branches beside them. By the time I had found my camera and returned to the window, only one redwing remained. I fired off some shots rather hopefully through the glass, before the bird flew off…

Reddish underwing – check

Speckled front and pale flash above the eye – check

A bit of zoom to confirm the ID

We last had a redwing in the garden couple of years ago, during a prolonged frosty period. I was watching it on the lawn from an upstairs window when suddenly out of the air came a blur of speeding feathers followed by a loud squawk. A sparrowhawk had found its breakfast. I watched it eviscerate to redwing and feast on it for about 15 minutes. After it flew off, I examined the scene of the crime. All that remained of the redwing was a pathetic ring of feathers and its orange beak. The bones and even the feet had all gone. There was a sad little area of melted frost where the deed had been done. Here is a sequence of photos of the drama, mostly taken through glass in the early morning. Notice the growing ring of ripped out feathers as the corpse disappears…

CSI photograph showing the last remains of the victim