Dear Readers, we walked through Cherry Tree Wood in East Finchley yesterday, and this chap was singing his head off. Here’s an actual recording from the Birdnet app (complete with lady calling her dog :-)) – this is a male Blackcap. Lots of these birds arrive in spring but I know that some are now staying in the UK all winter and are relying on garden bird feeders to keep them fed. Blackcaps are one of the main ways that mistletoes berries are spread – the birds eat the seeds and then poop them out on branches. Mistletoe used to be much more common than it is now too, so no need to worry about it for now!

Lots of people are now using Birdnet or Merlin apps in order to identify different bird calls, and they are really pretty neat (provided that they don’t think that you’re in the USA or elsewhere in the world). I find that they really help you to tune into the natural world, and  I often find that having used the app a few times I can then identify the bird call myself. How about this one, for example, which can be heard all over wooded areas in the UK at the moment. This one was recorded by David Darrell Lambert at Walthamstow Wetlands.

This is a Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) – it’s much commoner than  you’d think, and once heard, I think that ‘wheep, wheep, wheep’ call is very distinctive. Incidentally there’s a Chiffchaff calling in the background here too.

Nuthatch in St Pancras and Islington Cemetery

And after Cherry Tree Wood we wandered into Queen’s Wood in Highgate, where the wood anemones and lesser celandine are putting those in my beloved Coldfall Wood to shame….

As we were leaving the wood, I heard another bird that I couldn’t quite put my finger on (so to speak), so out came the app again.

And this time it was a Mistle Thrush – this is a Red List bird, so I was very happy to hear it. There used to be a pair living in Cherry Tree Wood and you would often see them running around on the playing fields grubbing for worms. These are big, determined-looking thrushes, and one way to distinguish them from the smaller, more tree-loving Song Thrush is by their smaller heads and  ‘beer belly’. The spots often coalesce into blobs too, particularly on the breast.

Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorous) in Cherry Tree Wood

I would recommend getting one of the bird song apps if you’re out and about – in my experience I only actually see about 20 percent of the birds that I hear, but if I know what species are about I can often pick them out. Plus, it’s fun! Especially when you’re walking along and your husband is chatting on, oblivious to the fact that you’re trying to record some bird song. If you’re lucky, you’ll find that your recording indicates that the sound is ‘human (probably).

The Bird Net app is here

Merlin is here