Spring has arrived at last! I’ve been out and about enjoying the sunshine and listening to the birds. I mostly hear them before seeing them. (A wonderful app to help you identify birdsong is the Merlin bird app.) The wren is our second smallest bird but its song is a real belter! Rather more sweetly this yellowhammer sings, ” a little bit of bread and no cheeeese”.
Back from Africa the willow warbler is named because of its beautiful tuneful warble.
Another spring migrant which comes here to breed is the sand martin. You can hear their high pitched chatter as they wheel around above your head. We have them nesting in holes in a sand bank up beside a stream. For me they are almost impossible to photograph as they flit around so fast, barely ever stopping. So I tried to capture them as they paused momentarily at their nest holes in the bank.
Nuthatches also have very distinctive calls which can help you find them. Here is one high up in a tree. Often they crawl beak first down tree bark, pecking out insects.
Tree creepers also search for insects in the trunks of trees. You can see how sharp its beak is. They always move upwards.
Robins sing all year round and are people’s favourite bird in Britain. They will accompany you if out gardening, hoping to get some juicy worms. They are not so shy and make good subjects to photograph.
My favourite sound of all is the song of the blackbird. My heart lifts when I hear it at dawn and dusk. Then at any time on a warm spring day it will sing out from a tree or rooftop perch. This first photo is from Mallorca.
And here is a local “blackie” from the hedge at home. When I hear it singing, it’s me who is full of the joys of spring.
Sarah's Wildlife Watch 