Letters to the Editor: Poor rewards for winter visiting birds 

All the redwings, fieldfares, and many other species we encounter over the next few cold winter months are dependent on the ripe berries on our hedgerows. Picture: Roger Wilmshurst/Frank Lane Picture Agency

What an excellent thought provoking, informative, and well-crafted article by Sean Ronayne on birds migrating to Ireland for the winter months. It explains in detail the migration journey of many of our winter visiting birds.

Anyone that reads it will understand how unhelpful the common practice of heavy-handed yearly autumn hedgerow flailing is to these birds and our native wildlife. All the redwings, fieldfares, and many other species we encounter over the next few cold winter months are dependent on the ripe berries on our hedgerows.