2.40 p.m.: I keep hearing a chiff-chaff in the background but always slightly drowned out by the sound of other birds or the sound of the beck, which is rushing along today brownish with sediment after yesterday’s rain. It’s only when a warbler hops along the branches of a willow that has fallen across the stream that I really believe that I’ve heard it. I get a better chance to hear the song when a chiff-chaff starts singing from the top of the willow at the other side of the stream.
British Summertime started at the weekend so it’s appropriate that warblers are now touching down after their return from Africa.
41ºF, 5ºc, pressure 998 mb, 29.4 in, sunshine and fairly heavy showers
Your mention of warblers reminded me – did you hear Midweek on Radio 4 today (March 30) ? Amazing chap studying cuckoos that design their eggs to resemble those of reed warblers.
I didn’t catch that but I heard the lunch time Guide to Coastal Wildlife, which I must catch up with on iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b074x4th The sea is calling me – it’s that time of year again!