Beautiful Waxwings take flight for Burnley berries

Eagle-eyed twitchers have spotted a number of Waxwings at various locations in town, feeding on berries, probably due to a shortage in their native homeland.

Keen birdwatcher Jen Coates manage to capture some stunning photographs of the bird which has made Burnley its winter home.

She said: “Waxwings are beautiful visitors from Scandinavia which migrate to the UK during the winter to feed on our berries. Rowan is their preferred choice, but they will also eat cotoneaster, hawthorn and rose hip.

“Some years we hardly get any in the UK, but from time to time we get ‘irruptions’ of them because the berry crop in Scandinavia isn’t sufficient to feed them, and these are ‘Waxwing years’.

“It’s been a few years since we had a Waxwing year, but this winter is one. We have had very large numbers of them in the North-West this year, and Burnley has hosted lots.”