THESE stunning rare birds have flown all the way from Scandinavia in search of food and found the perfect feeding site at a giant supermarket in Suffolk.
Russell Claydon
THESE stunning rare birds have flown all the way from Scandinavia in search of food and found the perfect feeding site at a giant supermarket in Suffolk.
Bird enthusiasts have being turning up with their binoculars and cameras at the Tesco store at the Copdock Interchange Retail Park in Ipswich to see this flock of waxwings on the berry bushes.
Usually only about 100 of the strikingly coloured birds fly over to the UK during a winter, but with food supplies short in their native land this year, they are being seen in vast numbers.
Around 40 have settled at the supermarket site in Ipswich, with a flock being spotted in Rendlesham and many other sightings in east and north Suffolk.
Ian Barthorpe, spokesman for RSPB Minsmere, said: “Every four to five years when the population in Scandinavia is high and the berry crop falls, when those two factors combine, large numbers have to move to find food.
“Big numbers move further south and west and this is one of those years.”
He said unlike other birds they were notorious for seeking out supermarket spots where there are lots of berries. They have also been spotted along the side of the A14.
He added: “It is an unpredictable bird and really stunning and that what draws people to them.”
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