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JUNE
Hello again... Sorry about a blank May but we were away for much of the month.. extending our holiday into the first days of this month. With her usual IT skills Harriet fitted in a quick note about what to look for and certainly the Common Swifts greeted us upon our return. Driving back today they were in full voice around Honington church and Willow Green areas .. such a great sound. Last weekend I came back through Ixworth village high street and this year they have beaten us hands down on numbers .. I estimated 25+ in one group doing their usual screaming close packed flight up the whole length of the road.
Generally this is a quieter time in the bird calendar .. they are out there but not nearly so vocal: busy concentrating on the seemingly never ending feeding of hungry youngsters. Thankfully the local Song Thrush is pushing out the decibels from 4:30am to late afternoon every day .. always singing his heart out .. even in heavy spells of rain. |
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On the singing note there was one very memorable event last week that was for me a first in a lifetime of birding. I opened up the back door to be stunned by a loud series of trills, squeaks and chattering calls which completely threw me in terms of identifying the singer. Then I realised what I was listening to .. a male Reed Warbler calling from deep in the darkest parts of a maple tree in my neighbours' walled garden. Of course I hear them most weeks in the reed margins of the Blackbourne River .. that is where you would expect to find them .. extraordinary. He sang without a break for 35 minutes and then just slipped away. A birding friend said that he had the same experience some years ago but only that one single time.
With the natural world you never stop learning. Brian Taylor |
Reed Warbler - Photo by Jordie Koppenaal on Unsplash
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