Wednesday 25 November 2009

Bird Songs

Mr PoppyM is a real countryman and a treasure-trove of information obtained first hand though-out his life - from boyhood through to adult-hood. It must be rubbing off on me as I have just begun to realize that I can identify quite a large number of birds just from their calls. Before I came to live here in the Welsh Marches I could probably identify a blackbird, crow, robin, seagull (I come from the seaside) & an "owl" - non-specific! Now, a few years of being with Mr Poppy M, I can proudly boast that I know all of the crow family by call, several owl species, quite a few tits, some thrushes, woodpeckers & the ever present buzzard. And by sight I can identify even more. At first this additional knowledge seems a simple thing of little consequence, a pleasant collection of information to use in family competitions & of no direct effect to the quality of my life. However,I have noticed a curious thing - as I become familiar with a bird's call, it becomes part of my sound-scape & the call stands out as a familiar human voice does. Not only that, other bird calls, that I was previously unaware of, stand out as "unknown" - like a new voice in a room of familiar people. All bird's voices seem to become differentiated, no longer a background blend, almost as if the invisible becomes visible. The changes do not stop there, the voices then become part of my world and in this manner my world has expanded. This is of course not new, part of the "to know is to love" experience - but for me this is no longer just a phrase but a physical reality.



The RSPB has a great web site with information about individual birds including calls & videos- it's well worth a visit http://www.rspb.org.uk/.
My favourite call - a raven,
The most surprising calls - the jay - I always think of parrots when I hear them & the green woodpecker - it makes me think of a kookaburra. Odd how until recently I was more familiar with exotic birds than out native ones - TV nature documentaries perhaps?
The happiest - redwings
The most unnerving - barn owl


The following site has some good sound bites of British birds http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/home.shtml (the Jay feather at the top of the page is from this site).