Redwings of Martin Top

As I walked to chapel on Thursday, I was able to enjoy the fine views. The cold weather and bright sunshine rendered it an excellent day for ornithology, and I soon regretted not having a pair of binoculars to hand. Gorging on the berries along the lanes was what appeared to be a flock of thrushes, which is unusual for so solitary and territorial a bird. They did not like my arrival and soon flew off, but one of them I was able to see reasonably closely in the winter sun. It was smaller than a song thrush and had a little red about its breast. They were redwings. Like wealthy pensioners with villas in Benidorm, redwings winter in the UK, and return to Iceland and Scandinavia in the spring. While here, they flock from tree to bush, enjoying the berry offerings of holly, rowan and hawthorn. Redwings seldom breed in the UK; perhaps twenty pairs do so in northern Scotland. Preferring colder climates, they know that fat, juicy berries await them in the Great British autumn and winter; to where there is food, they fly.

In these days of closing churches and apostate cranks gleefully uploading themselves onto social media, the lessons of the redwing should be carefully pondered. We Bible believers need to remain in flocks, not just sitting at home listening to recordings; we should also go to where there is spiritual food, for the current spiritual winter is long and bitter.

Image by ZenAga from Pixabay