Never let anyone tell you I can't write an attention-grabbing blog headline. Now that I'm in my 50s, this is obviously going to be about birds.
Birds, what are birds? We just don't know.
[Look Around You – water episode quote. Loved that programme.]
So everyone (some people) has been talking about how clear the birdsong is in the city now that all the background noise of traffic and planes has disappeared during the lockdown. Which is great news if you have songbirds. But we have machine gun magpies and cooing wood pigeons hiding in the neighbour's big fir.
And then there is that one bird that drives you nuts with its repetitious little two-note catchphrase.
Last week, during a week's holiday in the back garden we tried some of those 'Shazam for birds' apps – which basically seem to just give you a list of birds in the UK. But while Pete tried to shazam the little bugger who makes all the noise, I tried to get a closer look at its markings. And it turns out that the annoying call is that of the Great Tit.
Either there are loads of great tits in the gardens around here, or just one very loud and desperate one. This is what it sounds like. Great, isn't it! And that's why they call it a Great Tit. It is a highly sarcastic naming of a tiny bird with a big annoying call.
Identifying it after all these years does make me happy, though. It's good to know what you are dealing with.
Bolder birds?
Apart from birdsong I think I have noticed that the birds are swooping a bit lower than usual. I can't be sure but there have been enough low fly-bys to make me think. And today as I was looking out the front window at my gardening transformation of yesterday, I saw a sparrow (I think) hopping around a rose bush and knocking the water droplets of the leaves. It was just four feet away and I was enrapt.
Then in the afternoon I popped to the window again to see if it was still raining and two magpies on the roof of the houses opposite flew over, one onto the garden wall and the other onto the window still right beside me. They poked around a bit then walked through the gate onto the pavement. It was hilarious.
Surely birdlife wasn't always this bold. The absence of humans must be making them more daring?
So, although I was stuck indoors all day with work and rain, I felt it was a treat to see the wildlife on the doorstep of a terrace house in south Birmingham. Seeing birds close up really does make you think how odd these spindly-legged, nervous creatures are ("What are birds?")
The tiny dinosaurs are very jumpy. I wonder if dinosaurs were this anxious.
Today I am thankful for the gift of chocolates. Thank you sis! (again)
A soothing but fascinating reco from Pete, btw, is Wild Earth's Safari Live. A live African safari broadcasting daily. I've only caught a few bits but if you like astonishing animals, you'll like this. Catch it here.
Commission/hire me: fiona [at] fionacullinan.com
If you’re going to a tit, be a great tit, I say. And yes, I agree, So many more birds are flaunting their presence so much more. Amazing.
I think that birdsong is so musical, not annoying at all. And that enviable ability to soar high above ground level. What I wouldn’t give!
Thanks lovely pics, soundtrack and final words of the day. I can now proceed to bed. X
Try thinking about the fact that birds have NO ARMS and have to walk around like Prince Charles or something with their hands behind their backs!! Freaks me out every time.
And we had a TFT at the moment, too. We had a That Effing Blackbird with its mobile text and car alarm copying in our flat in London (well, outside it) and now there's a great tit down the road. However there was a COCK for a bit and that was worse.