Bird song

I usually work at home 3 days a week. However, for the last month I've been working at home all the time. I haven't missed the mega commute, crawling out of bed at 5:30 am, or the transport version of Russian roulette known as the Uckfield line. One thing I do regret is not hearing the early morning birds. At this time of year, at about 6:00 am, I can expect to hear a number of robins as I walk through Manor Park. each seems to come into focus as I walk into and then through its territory.

That said, as the days lengthen, I've been hearing more birds, albeit at a more civilized hour. At 7:30 this morning, I scurried out to grab a picture of the sky just before the sun rose.  The scene was like something out of of a Hitchcock movie. Birds were flitting almost furtively about. The rather sinister silhouettes of starlings were all around me on wires and branches.

Starlings are perched in the tree as well as on the wire.

Then there was the noise. More of a dawn shout up than a dawn chorus. Fortunately we have more melodious visitors. One of my favourites right now is a coal tit, which sits about half way up the birch tree and sings it's see-saw sing. It seems unbelievable that such a small bird can sing so loudly. I'm not an expert on bird song but I've been able to match our garden birds to the sounds they make by watching them while they sing or looking them up in the RSPB's Bird Guide, which has a short recording for each species.