Hedgerows lose colour

It may be a mental aberation on my part but it appears that the hawthorns have had an excellent crop hereabouts which they have held on to despite the frequent high winds that usually drop the haws on the roadside.
I suspect the wet summer and (for trees) perfect weather of mild and wet have allowed the fruits to ripen slowly and stay attatched longer. Either way the hedge banks around here have been full of winter thrushes for the past couple of weeks, mainly Redwings but significant numbers of obvious (male) Blackbirds and plenty of Fieldfares, "chach - chacking" like trainee Magpies. Song thrushes seem less in evidence but not sure.
Inevitably the depredations of incoming thrushes have begun to deplete the rosy flush of thje sceletal hedgebanks along with prolonged winde and rain,but I have found our winter visitors arrival some recompense for the loss of our swallows and other summer visitors.
Driving back from Bangor last week and over the past few evenings bats have been much in evidence with 12 counted in the half mile or so up our lane. I wonder if warmer winters might mean these and the other few animals that traditionally hibernate here will stop doing so? Are they equipped for life without a winter snoose?
Chris's porpoise with calf is probably the same one I reported a couple of days previously. Its really frustrating that weather conditions make observation of cetaceans so difficult , its really hard to keep consistant records.
Thats another good thing about birding, its so easy - you can see them out of the window most of the time !
allthingsgood, cliff