Citizen Science event - May - Birds
On Saturday 27th May we held our second public ecology event of the year. These events form part of our ‘Nature in Harmony’ ecology programme led by our intern each year, and are held once a month between April and August/September.
May’s session was on bird identification. Ecology Intern Laura welcomed the 15 attendees and began by using some RSPB soft toy birds to show visual identification features of eight common species - blackbird, robin, blue tit, great tit, house sparrow, chaffinch, goldfinch, and song thrush. The group then set off on a walk around the Diamond Wood, binoculars at the ready.
Laura set a leisurely pace, pausing every so often to talk about birds seen or heard, their visual ID features, what to listen out for, and how to differentiate between similar-sounding calls. Species seen and heard during the walk included skylark, woodpigeon, collared dove, blue tit, great tit, chiffchaff, chaffinch, blackbird, robin, swifts, swallows, house martins, kestrel, red kite, crows, jackdaws, goldfinches, and yellowhammer.
She also explained that birds have a number of different ‘voices’, or types of calls, which, if you learn about and tune into them, can give you an idea about things that may be happening nearby. A simple learning tool is to correspond the different ‘voices’ of birds to the five fingers of your hand:
Thumb = Thumbs up = All good, everything’s okay, I’m just sitting here chilling and singing. Maybe trying to attract a mate.
Forefinger = Pointing = Alert! Predator! Often a short, sharp, repeated alarm call by numerous birds.
Middle finger = Middle finger = Go away! My territory! Can sound similar to alarm calls but if it’s only coming from one or two birds and others nearby are singing it’s more likely a territorial dispute than a predator.
Ring finger = Companionship = Chatty contact calls between nesting pairs and family groups.
Little finger = Littluns, little baby birds = Begging ”feed me!” calls from chicks to parents.
Participants were sent a feedback questionnaire following the event. All respondents said they enjoyed the session and would get involved with ATU again. Comments included:
“Liked being outdoors and being able to expand on my knowledge of different species.”
“[Liked] Spending the time to stop and listen to the world around us.”
“The whole walk was interesting. I heard and saw birds around Harmony Woods that I had not noticed before.”
“It was good to be outside enjoying surroundings and meeting people.”
“Learnt how to identify and differentiate bird calls.”
“Species identification has had a massive boost.”
“A lovely morning - the chance to walk the wood and take advantage of others’ knowledge about birds and birsong. Finally saw a yellowhammer!”
If you would like to learn more about identifying birds by sight and song, visit the RSPB A-Z of Birds, British Birdsongs, Lucy Lapwing’s Birdsong Lessons on YouTube, or George Cuckoo’s Instagram reels. You can also download either the BirdNet or Merlin app, both free, which can help you identify birdsong when out and about.
Please see our Events Calendar for details of upcoming sessions. The next one is a wildflower walk on Saturday 24th June. These events are free and open to all ages, but we ask that you register in advance so we know how many people to expect and can plan accordingly.
