(bombycilla garrulus)
The Waxwing is a winter visitor to Scotland. Some years there are only a few birds, other years there is an irruption of many thousands of birds which sweep across the country hoovering up all available berry food before moving on and dispersing. It is though that the numbers arriving in the UK are dependent on the success, or failure, of the berry crops in Fenno-Scandinavia.
The early winter of 2008/2009 was a particularly busy year for Waxwings in the UK with large flocks arriving unusually early in Scotland. A flock of over 800 birds counted in November in the Glasgow, Clyde area was the largest flock count ever recorded in this area. As winter progressed the number of birds in the city thinned out until in late March/April the numbers increased again. This presumably was the birds migrating back northwards.