Dear Readers, this morning I was standing at the Highgate Station bus stop on Archway Road, en route to pilates in Islington (possibly the most middle-class sentence ever written :-)). Lorries and buses were heaving up the steep hill, runners were stomping past, dogs of every shape and size headed eagerly up the hill for their walkies in Highgate or Queen’s Wood. I peered up the hill to see if a 43 bus was about to turn the corner, when suddenly I heard a blackbird’s song. It was so loud I thought it was coming from the trees by the bus stop, but I soon spotted the bird on top of an aerial above the café opposite. Such a song! I almost missed my bus as I listened to it. Blackbirds are not as common as they used to be, and so hearing this one was a real, unexpected treat.
Here are a few excerpts from the ever-wonderful Xeno Canto website. Enjoy!
This is a beautifully descriptive piece 🙂
It probably has to sing loudly to be heard above the traffic! But, nice that it took you away for a few moments. I think we may have had a baby blackbird in our garden yesterday. I wasn’t sure if it was a young thrush, as it was quite mottled, I’ll have to check it out.