Everybody has their own cue’s for spring, something they look out for each year, whether it’s the first arriving Swallows, the sound of the dawn chorus, the smell of wild Garlic, or a pond full of Frogspawn. I haven’t got any specific thing I love seeing the most as I love it all! but if I had to choose, it has to be the singing birds. I get so much joy listening to birdsong, whether it’s the complex song of the Skylark on the hills or the repetitive song of a Dunnock in the Garden. With heat, comes energy, and that energy is contagious, so lap every moment up.
One sign for sure is emerging Reptiles and this week I found my first Adder in a known hotspot. I’m tasking myself to find more local ones this year as I’ve walked for miles in pristine habitat on my local moorland and I’m still yet to find one.
In the same spot as the Adder were 7 Common Lizard, all basking in the warm sun. Hard to believe that same day started with ground frost and snow forecast! March has become a very unpredictable month which has the potential to make or break it for some species that time things wrongly.
Adding to the Bird song list is this Chaffinch on a rather windy day and a beautiful Dunnock which continued to sing in the tree I just parked my car under, even after making a racket shutting doors and getting all my recording gear out of the boot. It’s a nice feeling when wildlife choses to trust you, or most likely pretending you don’t exist lol.
Below is one of my favourite recordings to date on what ended up being a beautiful walk in the Forest of Dean. A pair of Ravens were building a couple of nests, probably undecided on where to settle, but the morning mist was condensing on the trees, creating a background of crisp water drops falling on dead leaves. My recording doesn’t do it justice really but if you listen with a good pair of headphones you will hear it. One thing I couldn’t help but hear also though is the passing planes!! There literally is no escaping the sound of man anymore.
Take a look at this time-lapse video of all the plane activity in Europe. It’s getting ridiculous! A total money pit and all at the expense of the earth. It’s important we find areas to escape man made sounds and I highly recommend finding an area to escape this constant drone. The Canyon in Pantegaseg can be a great place to escape plane noise, but it’s also a hotspot for off-road vehicles on the weekends, so pick your times carefully. The best way to get away from these sounds are to find natural sounds that drown it out, this is why we’re drawn to the sounds of streams and rivers.