Can't think what this is with red/orange beak.
No, sorry. They weren't as big as a blackbird. The beak wasn't quite as long either.
Yes, I wondered about a chaffinch. Also a bullfinch, but neither really fit the bill. I'm pretty sure about the black head and mottled body, but now not so sure about the colour of the beak.
www.bbc.co.uk
Sounds like a perfect description for male winter Brambling
macaulaylibrary.org
Yes, that's it. Thank you very much !Sounds like a perfect description for male winter Brambling
They are quite common visitors to feeders and birdtables in the mid-winter - they’ll use seed feeders and feed on the ground.
’Mine’ haven’t arrived yet but they usually start piling into the garden in between now and end January
ML627187620 - Brambling - Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML627187620; © Steve Heinl; Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States
Our cat is a renowned killer - brings in mice regularly, as well as dead rats. But hardly ever birds - yet we have plenty of feeders - both hung up and on a low wall. He just sits and chatters at them through the window. If they are high enough up, the cats soon lose interest when they realise they're not going to succeed.