Bird Sound Experiences

Blackcaps and Garden Warblers

These are two species where I sometimes find it hard to separate the songs but I thought I'd say something about how I try to tell them apart. Both of them give quite complex, fast songs with lots of very sweet notes. I remember my mum telling me that she'd been taught to think of a Garden Warbler having a song like a speeded up Blackbird. I find this really useful because, like a Blackbird, Garden Warbler has lots of low mellow notes in the song without anything really thin and high pitched. A Blackcap on the other hand usually has quite a few high notes in its song and sounds to me a bit like a speeded up Robin. By comparing the songs of these two birds to two commoner species, I'm able to remember roughly what they sound like and that provides a good basis for distinguishing the two when I hear them. I don't get to hear Icterine Warbler singing very often but when I do, I'm reminded of a speeded up Song Thrush: very frenetic but lots of repeated phrases.

Autumn Robins

I always know when autumn's really here when I start to hear Robins singing again. During the middle of summer, July and most of August, I never normally hear Robins and they seem to go into hiding while they moult. Then, usually in mid to late August, I start to hear Robins again and I know that autumn has arrived. Along the east coast of Britain where I live, Robins sometimes arrive on mass from continental Europe and the coastal headlands where I go birding are filled with their songs. Because so few other birds sing at this time of year, the song of the Robin really seems to capture the feeling of autumn arriving and progressing.

Holiday Buzzards

When I was growing up and became interested in birds, I never used to see many birds of prey. The only species I saw at all often in the Midlands where I grew up were Kestrels. A few times when I was young I went on holiday to Devon and here there were Buzzards. They were a common sight over the woods and hills. The Kestrels that I knew well were very quiet birds but Buzzards made were much more vocal. I remember being startled at hearing their cat-like mewing call, probably young birds and adults. Whenever I hear that sound now, and thankfully this happens much more often these days, I'm taken back to those holidays and the sunny Devon woods.