Birdsong calls me to woods
HAVE you been out in the woods recently? Why not? The birdsong in your local woods is astounding.
And at the top of many trees you can hear the lovely ‘chiff chaff chiff chaff chiff chaff’ of the... wait for it... chiffchaff.
Some chiffchaffs hang around all-year round but most migrate from Africa, being one of our earliest arrivals.
They have been here, mixing with the locals, since February.
Chiffchaffs are a discreet green on top and pale yellow below with a white belly and a short eyebrow stripe. They do look similar to willow warblers but the chiffchaff tends to have darker legs
They are about 10 to 11cm long and weigh about nine grams.
According to the Lancashire Bird Atlas, chiffchaffs were the region’s rarest breeding ‘leaf warbler’ well into the 20th Century.
However, the ‘chiffchaff’ in your woods has increased along with the national population – between 1995 and 2010 numbers rose by some 70 per cent and now stands at around 3,500 in the region in summer.
I know the ‘teacher, teacher, teacher’ call of the great tit and, on the rare occasions I have heard one, the yellowhammer’s song sounds like ‘a little bit of bread and no cheese’.
I can pretty much be sure of blackbird, song thrush and robin and, at a pinch, I could identify a wren’s call. And then there is the cuckoo. Saying that, I heard a blackcap last week and was convinced it was a robin.
We do have people who can identify birds from their songs and I love to take part in early morning bird walks when you have these amazing people with you.
I am always delighted when I hear a birdsong I recognise.
Forget your Adele and One Direction, turn off Sir Rod Stewart and Abba and just walk in your local woods to hear the varied and wonderful birdsong.
Then tweet it so other people join in.
The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the wildlife in Lancashire, seven boroughs of Greater Manchester and four of Merseyside, all lying north of the River Mersey. To become a member of the Trust go to the website at www.lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129.