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| Volunteer Naomi |
The day started very
early for some, and the couple that had the least distance to travel (just up
from the yurts) were the last to arrive… not mentioning any names!
We had a quick brief from
Paul Rutter (expert twitcher) on what bird species we were likely to see and hear on the walk, then
wrapped up warm and set off. Even standing in the car park for a few minutes
while Charlotte locked up we started to hear robins and blackbirds in the trees
by the farmhouse, so I knew this was going to be an exciting morning.
We started by walking
across the Cottage Field, listening in the hedgerows for sounds of bird-life; we heard several wren with their loud fast
warbling and trilling, chaffinches’ descending staccato series ending with a
loud flourish and great tits' ‘teacher teacher’ - Charlotte hopes it will be the
new call she will remember for this year!
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| Listening intently for the different birdsong |
The route we took went through
the Mill Meadow into the woodland and past the bird hide and Forest school
area, motte and bailey site and out into the Broad Meadow starting with the
South West side and up past the pond and into the House field.
We learned the difference
in calls between collared dove, stock dove and wood-pigeon, and the breeding
behaviours of these three birds. The walk through Mill Meadow picked up more
wren, great tit and other birds including robin, chiffchaff; an easy song to
remember as it says its name; ‘chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff’ and rook; which nest as
close as just one wingspan away from its neighbour. Further along before the
bird hide at the edge of forest school area we also saw briefly and heard the
rambling chattering and high, sweet whistled notes of a male blackcap in the
hedgerow.
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| One of Fordhall's rookeries |
We paused to listen to
the birds outside the hide and Paul showed photos of the birds we might see from
the hide or around the woodland, as well as something we would definitely see
later, the linnet. In the forest school area and through the woodland we
continued to hear bird songs including the soft, slow, simple notes of a reed
bunting, familiar tones of the great tit, high pitched trill of the blue tit
and trident descending warble of the tree-creeper.
As we moved out into the
Broad Meadow some young cattle joined us (which terrified Paul somewhat), and
we even got a few wet nose marks on our jackets as they became quite daring, I even managed to stroke a nose or two!
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| Inquisitive calves |
At the bottom of this
field a male linnet was spotted on the top of a gorse bush by the river, binoculars
were passed round the group so that everyone could see what beautiful birds
they are in breeding plumage. At the same time, a skein of Canada geese flew over, I recognised
their call from previous dawn goose counts.
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| Paul Rutter pointing out the linnet on the gorse bush |
As we started to walk
through the Broad Meadow the sunrise was impressive. The birds continued to
demonstrate how loudly they could sing to defend their territory, with dunnock,
skylark, and both mistle and song thrush singing out loud and clear.
As we
passed the pond we saw the sweetest sight, mallard ducklings venturing out of
the shade and across the pond, followed by the female a few moments later. Just then a flock of greylag geese flew over the river and landed in a field opposite.
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| Bluebells on the motte and bailey at sunrise |
We left the cattle behind
as we ventured back up the House Field to Arthur’s Farm Kitchen for breakfast, we were
greeted by a skylark singing while corkscrewing up into the air, goldfinch on
the path to the wildlife garden, swallow sitting on the overhead wires and
flying around catching early insects, dunnock and house sparrow in the car park
and a buzzard circling over the farm.
A good walk all round with lots of new
bird songs heard, now the trick is to remember what I have learnt and pass it
onto other people!
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