The best of Dorset in words and pictures

Colin Varndell’s Wildlife Year – redwing

The redwing is a winter visitor to Dorset and arrives during the autumn to escape the harsh winter conditions of its breeding range in Scandinavia and Russia. Generally redwings feed on earthworms and other invertebrates but if the weather turns cold, redwings will visit gardens and orchards to feed on windfall apples this month.