At the unearthly hour of 6am 10 bleary eyed Group members met at Northward Hill car park to hear the ‘Dawn Chorus’. Some said that if we were serious, we should have been there 2 hours earlier. Nevertheless, despite a cold wind blowing from the North West, the sun shone (yes, even at 6am!) and the air was filled with bird song. At the screen & along the path to the viewpoint we heard, & sometimes saw, chaffinch, whitethroat, cettis warbler, song thrush, greenfinch, blackbird, wren, great spotted woodpecker, linnet, cuckoo and the gentle purring of TURTLE DOVE (lovely). Here we also heard the bubble call of the female cuckoo, not often heard.
We stopped at the viewpoint briefly to note what species were on the reservoirs but as they were not really ‘Dawn Chorus’ material, we continued along to the orchard. Before the little bridge we heard blackcap & bits of nightingale song. In the wood, near the heronry viewpoint, rooks & jackdaws called, & probably herons & egrets too, but they were drowned out by the corvids. Further into the wood we heard the full song of the nightingale, a real treat.
We all agreed it was good to be up and out in the early morning air, enjoying nature’s music in the form of the Dawn Chorus – and we agreed we really must do it again next year…
Sally
We also saw a couple of Wall Browns on the return circuit, with a total bird species count of 49 – not bad before 10am!