Sunday 26 April 2009

Spring Jewell

After reading some rave reports on Birdforum about some nightingales at a site 'out of county' I decided to give it a go.
I left the house before dawn and got there about 6.15.
I was the only person there yet the sun was up and the woodland was absolutely alive with birdsong.It really was a job to distinguish one type of bird from another, but as I walked further into the woods I could hear the unmistakeable sound of a nightingale.
The first one was very shy and I caught a brief glimpse.
Continuing further in I got to the far corner of the site without hearing another.
Doubling back I caught a glimpse of another but still not a proper view.
Heading back to where I started I heard yet another in the undergrowth but this time it flew up into a tree almost fully exposed.
It went through its full repertoire whilst I took some shots, the rich warble decibels higher than any of the other birds.Its whole body vibrating s it sang out its tune.
I stayed for about 4 hours and got good views of most of the common woodland birds on site but the nightingales got quieter as the morning wore on.
This was the first time I had seen and heard a nightingale but these birds easily lived up to their legendary status.
Another couple of weeks and the leaves and undergrowth will be fully up so they will be even more difficult to view.
Today however was a day that will remain etched in the memory for a very long time.
Nightingale

Nightingale

Nightingale

Nightingale

Canada Goose Chick

Long Tailed Tit

Whitethroat

Blackcap

2 comments:

Nick Patel said...

Awesome website Martin. Love the East coast, and this blog really does it justice. Some great pics you got here, specially the plovers!

Cheers.

(P.S. are you paying for this webspace from blogger?)

East Yorkshire Wildlife said...

Thanks for the comment Nick, glad you like my site.

I had my site set up by a friend and the blog is attached to it (dont ask me how!)I pay for the webspace via another means.