For the Love of Birdsong

As an RSPB Project Manager by day and Wildlife Gardener in his spare time, Adrian Thomas has always been aware of Birdsong as the natural soundtrack to our lives. It can evoke an emotional and powerful sense of time, place and season and it is not just a highly accurate way to identify and find many birds, but also a great source of joy to many nature lovers.

Adrian opened the Group’s first meeting of 2022. He is the first to acknowledge that identifying which bird is making which sound can seem a challenge, and he is keen for us to explore ways that we can learn to train our ears to get to grips with this.

Over time Adrian has made recordings of bird sounds from all over the UK and was dismayed at the constant background of ‘sound litter’ – planes, motor bikes, farm generators and sheep, to name but a few.

He explained that as we have few adjectives to describe sound a sonogram can help us learn to identify songs by ear by showing how the frequency (pitch) goes up and down, as well as the length of notes.  He encouraged members to appreciate not only the beautiful song like sounds of a bird attempting to attract a mate, but also the more intriguing sounds; such as the difference between a bird attempting to defend a territory – also to distinguish between different species.

With a further feather in his cap (please excuse the pun!) Adrian helped to create the RSPB music single entitled ‘Let Nature Sing’ which was released in 2019. It proved extremely popular and reached number 18 in the charts and was given regular airtime on Radio 2.

Tricia Hall took to the floor after the customary break for refreshments and reported that Water Rails had been spotted on the Rife as well as two Little Egrets. Also Cattle Egrets had been breeding at Pagham Harbour. Tricia reminded members to count the birds that visited their gardens for the period of one hour over the coming weekend and to record their findings on the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch website. The results would contribute to this important nationwide survey and is an important indicator as to the state of our key breeding and non-breeding bird populations.

To conclude the meeting Ed Miller advised members that the Public Enquiry into the Persimmon planning application at the Chatsmore Farm site on the North Goring Gap had now closed but he warned that the Inspector’s decision could take some weeks or possibly months.

 

 

Visit to Warnham Nature Reserve 18th January

Despite sub-zero temperatures 21 keen members of Ferring Conservation Group met at Warnham Nature Reserve for a guided tour of this beautiful and precious resource on the outskirts of Horsham. Their guide for the morning was Clive Hall, a knowledgeable local bird expert and longstanding member of the Group. He was assisted by the Group’s wildlife expert Tricia Hall and her daughter Jackie, who is a volunteer at Warnham. Since the Group’s last visit some years ago there have been many welcome additions by way of a newly built Visitor Centre, including a Café with inside and outside seating, a Discovery Hub and Wildlife Garden plus several new Hides. This 92 acre site boasts a serene 17 acre Millpond, complete with reedbeds and nesting islands and edged with a dominant boundary of lush vegetation including large areas of Great Reed Mace, often known as ‘Bulrush’. This provides ideal camouflage for the vast array of water birds that are attracted to this proven wildlife haven. This valuable oasis will be even more treasured in the years to come now that the countryside surrounding this popular town is under threat of massive development.

As members stood admiring the beauty and tranquillity of the Millpond many Black Headed gulls, and some young Herring Gulls could be seen along with 2 Mute swans, and a pretty Common Pochard duck – this medium sized, plump, diving duck feeds on plant seeds, water weed, snails and other aquatic invertebrates. The male is grey with a chestnut head and a black chest and rear end, while the female is a darker, duller grey-brown. The UK is an important winter destination for the Pochard and although it is a rare nesting bird it can be found in large numbers on lakes, reservoirs, flooded gravel pits and estuaries. Several Cormorants could be seen perched high in trees on the far side of the Millpond, silhouetted against the pale grey clouded sky, while a solitary Tufted duck circled overhead.

A short walk took members to the first of the new hides that overlooks a clearing in a wooded area where numerous bird feeders had been sited that had attracted many species of birds. Several male Chaffinches, Blue Tits, a solitary Reed Bunting, one Goldfinch, an exquisite Nuthatch, one Robin, a Magpie and a native Blackbird were all greedily consuming the abundant provisions. A rather plump Grey Squirrel arrived to tentatively eat up the seed that had fallen to the ground from the over enthusiastic antics of the small birds. It appears to be the perfect ‘no waste’ society, which we could all learn from.

Adjacent to the path leading to the second hide, a small herd of Hebridean sheep were quietly grazing in a field. These short-tailed, black sheep are a small and hardy breed originally from Scotland that are helping to manage the coarse rough grass and are proving effective at scrub control.  A welcome and contrasting attraction at Warnham.

At the second hide members were greeted by the sight of 2 male and 1 female Pheasants busily foraging for any discarded seed – the striking plumage of the males outshining the rather drab colouring of the much larger female. A cheeky Moorhen joined the scene as the familiar sound of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker was first heard and then sighted high in a nearby tree.

As members continued along the boardwalk they came across an eye-catching structure called ‘The Bat Bothy’ – one of two sculptures sited throughout the Reserve. Inspiration for this was taken from the tradition of placing stone structures in the landscape as basic shelters. The version at Warnham has been created as a home for bats with small entrances leading to an internal ‘cave’ where bats can gather and return to as dawn breaks. Jane Hayman from the Group said “these sculptures not only provide a valuable and practical function they are also pleasing to the eye and interesting structures that also aim to educate visitors”.

On the way back to the Visitor Centre a magnificent Grey Heron was finally sighted posing for a pose of keen wildlife photographers that had commandeered the last hide on the trail. They couldn’t believe their luck! Also a keen member spotted 2 Jackdaws huddled together against the bitter weather high up in a tall tree.

After heartfelt thanks were conveyed to the guides and the purchase of a hot drink from the splendid new café, members made their way to the seated area to thaw out with the additional help of an attractive and functional wood burning stove. Once fingers and toes had warmed up members shared the view that Warnham Nature Reserve provided a wonderful place to observe wildlife greatly enhanced by the recent, well designed, improvements.