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lowlands
Before
the waking hour: nightingale on the brecks
[1] Shrubs
on the edge of a scots pine plantation; clear, warm night, with some
low thick mist drifting in from the north in the early morning. Nightingale
at 1.45, 3.30, 3.45 and 4.00 am: with a pair of tawny owls nearby,
then the first cuckoo call of the day, roding woodcock in the distance,
and the first robins and song thrushes of the dawn chorus in the background.
Early June. (4'48")
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Ancient
woods and timber fields: various woodland communities
[2] Mixed
beech and yew, and conifer plantations in a Chiltern valley between
4 and 6 am. Starting off fairly calm, warm and clear; then a breeze
rising from the west bringing thick low damp clouds over the ridges.
Chorus led by song thrushes; then wood pigeon, robin, wren and the
soft song of a bullfinch in mature plantation; finally a mixed flock
of tits (predominantly long-tailed tits) in willow and elder scrub.
Muntjac deer can be heard barking in the distance. June. (5'38")
[3] An
ancient beech and oak wood in the New Forest with plenty of overmature
trees and some areas of 'wood pasture' type: between 1 and 3 pm. After
some late morning showers, bright with a few scudding clouds on a
strong west breeze: fairly calm under the high canopy. First scene
featuring robin and blackbird (listen out for the curlew mimicry);
then redstart, wood warbler and blackcap - summer visitors. Late May.
(4'00")
[4] Mixed
woodland in the Forest of Dean: conifer plantation, oakwood and some
damp areas with willows. Dripping wet, but still, between 5.30 and
6.30 am. Beginning with the dawn chorus, blackbird and wren in the
foreground, on a small hill overlooking miles of woodland; a little
later, with the wood pigeons building up steam; then a clearing by
some willow scrub with great tit and blue tit; blackbird-led chorus
on the edge of the conifers; later great spotted woodpecker and nuthatch
under a high canopy. Damp conditions often seem to stimulate song
activity. April. (5'19")
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Egdon
heath: the devil's birds and desolation
[5] A
New Forest heath with scattered pines and oaks: some bracken and gorse,
and some boggy areas on the valley bottom: between 3.30 and 7.00 am.
Warm and deadly still with an early mist, clearing to hot sun with
a light west breeze. Nightjars, robins, stonechats, yellowhammer,
tree pipit, and a mystery bird are featured: song thrush, snipe, willow
warbler, carrion crows may be heard in the distance. Traditionally,
stonechats and yellowhammers were associated with the devil; and many
superstitions are attached to the nightjar - old goat-sucker. June.
(9'06")
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Farm
and village: man's associates
[6] From
various locations near villages on wooded farmland, between 5 and
6 am, under fairly clear skies. Jackdaws, rooks and wood pigeon in
Kent (note how the wood pigeon seems to instigate a chorus of rivalry
from the corvids); blackcap and magpie by a Sussex village; greenfinch
then a party of goldfinches on an Oxfordshire farm; jackdaws, starling,
great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, followed by an encounter between
a carrion crow and a cormorant: by a Northumberland village with the
river in flood. April/May. (6'49")
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Reedbed
and marsh: some of the typical warblers
[7] Various
locations between 4 and 6 am. Damp meadow with rank vegetation in
north-east Scotland on a still misty morning: grasshopper warbler
with sedge warbler and a worried lapwing in the background. An overgrown
shingle bed by a Scottish stream: sedge warbler with its buzzing song,
liberally embellished with mimicry of other species' calls. (Modern
jazz saxophone in the bird world ?).A Suffolk phragmites reedbed on
the coast: two rival reed warblers with the croaking of turtle doves
in the background. Late May. (4'57")
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uplands
Caledonian
pines: a caper lek and the moorland fringe
[8] An
old scots pine wood in the Eastern Highlands: 4.30 to 6.30 am. Overcast,
with a strong west breeze in the pine canopy - brightening up later.
A capercaillie lek with robin and chaffinch in the surrounding trees:
goldcrest, crested tit and siskin can also be heard. There were at
least 5 caper cocks with stances in an area c.40-50m diameter.'Our'
cock occasionally makes a run towards the dominant cock's stance (but
thinks better of it). A primaeval ritual in an ancient landscape.
April. (6'04")
[9] Scattered
scots pines and a few areas of old neglected planted pines on the
edge of moorland in the Eastern Highlands: between 5.30 and 7 am.
A light west breeze, broken sky, becoming brighter later. Blackcock
lek with 3-5 cocks - red grouse and curlews can be heard in the background;
song thrush in a denser part of the wood (and coal tit); redstart
by a cascading stream. Particularly high numbers of redstarts occupy
some of these old pine woods. April/May. (8'38")
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Onto
the moor: wind-born cackles and cries
[10]
Heather moorland in the Eastern Highlands, with areas of blanket peat
bog: between 6 and 7.30 am. Overcast and warm, but with a cool west
breeze beginning to blow from the high central Cairngorms. Red grouse
declaring their territories and curlews calling up-wind represent
the spirit of these moors. Then oyster catchers in a small, heavily-glaciated
glen. Are curlews the fabled 'Seven Whistlers' ? April. (4'43")
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Birchwoods
and sitka spruce: cameos of some highland thrushes
[11]
Mixed woods around a village in the Eastern Highlands, at c.350m,
on the border between 'rough grazing' type farmland and heather moorland;
clear, calm morning and evening. Song thrush and cuckoo; redwing (with
hedge sparrow joining in); blackbird (including alarm)and robin -
all between 5 and 6 am. Then mistle thrush - c. 9 pm. We are not the
only culture to associate the cuckoo with spring: some Siberian tribes
time their spring ceremonies by the arrival of the cuckoo. May. (6'10")
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An
isolated community: ossian woods
Mixed
woods (old birchwood, conifer plantations and some beeches around
the lodge) with clearings and fields on the edge of a loch, by a shooting
lodge in the Central Highlands. This area of woodland, rhododendron
and azalea shrubbery with a few grazed fields is surrounded by high
mountains: its passerine community is essentially isolated by many
miles of alien habitat.
[12]
Garden warbler in the lochside birches(willow warbler in the background)
5am; the two blackbirds, who often seem to echo each other, presumably
because one learnt his song types from the other (with common sandpiper
alarmed by my presence) 9pm; then robin at c9.30pm higher up in the
woods. (4'07")
[13]
Robins and song thrush at c10pm in a clearing in the pines: a full
moon was shining in a clear sky spreading a soft dawn-like light on
the scene. June. (3'02")
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