The skies were dull and somewhat overcast as we gathered at The Froize, but we were delighted to be chatting together whilst enjoying welcoming teas and coffees. We discussed the incessant north-east wind and how Suffolk coastal birding had been blighted by it for several weeks now. Despite a chilly feel to the start of our day, the forecast wasn’t too gloomy so we hatched a plan deciding to explore local heathlands. Our focus was on summer birdsong, but we were also hopeful of getting views of those special birds that frequent this unique habitat.

The skies were dull and somewhat overcast as we gathered at The Froize, but we were delighted to be chatting together whilst enjoying welcoming teas and coffees. We discussed the incessant north-east wind and how Suffolk coastal birding had been blighted by it for several weeks now. Despite a chilly feel to the start of our day, the forecast wasn’t too gloomy so we hatched a plan deciding to explore local heathlands. Our focus was on summer birdsong, but we were also hopeful of getting views of those special birds that frequent this unique habitat.

We used a couple of apps to help with identification of singing and calling birds, including the
Merlin app that records avian sounds all around and then lists each species it finds to be singing. This is a relatively new app and, although a useful learning tool, we were aware that it is not fool-proof. It has been reported that it often muddles some songs and doesn’t recognize the calls of some species at all. For example, it sometimes lists Redstart when it should be listing Chaffinch. However, we all found it interesting to test its accuracy.

I’m hopeful that such apps don’t deter people from developing their skills with birdsong and being at one with nature; the joy of being in the countryside, to simply look and listen, and then to have that joy heightened as we identify the birds using our own eyes and ears.

We moved away from the car park and traffic noise and immediately heard Chiffchaff, Coal Tit,
Skylark, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Wren and Goldcrest. We watched the Chiffchaff singing from its lofty perch along with three Goldcrest flitting together, seeking out insects that were hidden amongst the dense pine needles in the canopy. A Kestrel delighted us all with a great display and it soon became clear as to why its old name was “windhover”. We discussed the differing hunting techniques of Kestrel and Sparrowhawk – the former stalking its prey, whilst opportunist Sparrowhawks taking  birds mostly by ambush.

A roving tit flock contained a variety of species, mainly Blue Tit and Coal Tit families, but also a pair of Long-tailed Tits. Sadly, the once abundant heather now shows signs of being unhealthy, no doubt due to last summer’s drought. It has many dead patches but, standing tall, it was still strong enough to almost hide a herd of around twenty Fallow Deer.

As we moved on, we were treated to our first of many sightings of Stonechat, and then glimpses of Dartford Warbler. Dartfords do not like the wind, so in such conditions perch up only momentarily before diving back into the tangle of heather and gorse. The colloquial name for Dartford Warbler is Furze Wren, and it’s easy to see why. Goldfinches and Linnets were regularly heard flying overhead and a distant Cuckoo was seen briefly as it flew over the treetops. The familiar “jip, jip, jip” calls of Crossbills was heard from a pine belt but the birds did not perch up.

As predicted, we were thrilled to watch the clouds breaking up, right on cue at 11 a.m. with glorious sunshine becoming our gift for the rest of the morning. We had hoped that it would persuade butterflies to take wing, but unfortunately a lone Green Hairstreak was the only species logged. As the winds eased and temperatures rose, we made our way back enjoying more Dartford Warblers singing, one giving a towering song flight. We exclaimed our surprise that we hadn’t seen or heard Woodlarks, a target species, when “Hey Presto!” three flew off the path and landed in an area of short grassland for all to see. The Woodlark has a most beautiful song and its French name is Alouette lulu after its “lu-lu-lu” song that it delivers either from the air or whilst perched. Alouette means lark and I always think of the song “Alouette, gentille Alouette” that we were forced to sing at primary school.  “Alouette, gentille Alouette. Alouette, je te plumerai Je te plumerai le bec”. It translates to “Lark, nice lark. Lark, I will pluck you”. If I had known that the song was about plucking larks, I would have been less keen to sing it!

It was back to our cars after a wonderful walk, and then a return to The Froize where we added a few species not seen on the heath, to bring our day-total to thirty three. We then enjoyed a most scrumptious lunch. We were treated to a smorgasbord of  delights: Slow cooked lamb shanks and pork steaks, potato curry and a spicy noodle dish with bean shoots, pac choi and cashews – followed by rich dark chocolate pots, sherry trifle or my favourite… fresh apricot crumble! Delicious!!

The next Froize birding event will take place during the evening of Thursday, 22nd June, 2023, when we will search for Nightjars and other night dwellers. This is always one of our most popular events of the year and this time it will be led by David Walsh and Birder Granty, who are both passionate Nightjar watchers. 

The Nightjar is a crepuscular and nocturnal species steeped in folklore, as its array of old names suggest: Doy, Dor-hawk, Night-hawk, Goatsucker; Puckeridge; Lich Bird (corpse bird) and Fern-owl. Birder Granty treated those who attended last summer’s Froize Nightjar event to a recital of Thomas Hardy’s poem “Afterwards” in which Hardy calls the Nightjar the Dewfall-hawk:

“If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid’s soundless blink
The dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alight
Upon the wind-warped upland thorn.”

If you buy him a pint he’s anyone’s, so he is bound to do it again by popular demand, but in an
attempt to upstage, him a number of poets have referred to the Nightjar often as an indicator of
warm summer nights:

George Meredith’s  Love in the Valley, for example:

“Lone on the fir-branch, his rattle-notes unvaried
Brooding o’er the gloom, spins the brown eve-jar”

Wordsworth’s “Calm is the fragrant air”:

“The busy dor-hawk chases the white moth
With burring note.”

Dylan Thomas’s “Fern Hill”:

“and all the night long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
flying with the ricks”

In the final track on Divers, “Time, As a Symptom”, American musician Joanna Newsom rounds off the album with a litany of:

“No time, no flock, no chime, no clock, no end
White star, white ship, Nightjar, transmit, transcend (joy)
White star, white ship, Nightjar, transmit, transcend (we go down)
White star, white ship, Nightjar, transmit, transcend
White star, white ship, Nightjar, transmit, tran- [birdsong]”

Get your diaries out now! The next Birds and Lunch event is our Trees, Moths and Butterflies walk through Staverton Thicks on Thursday, 13th July with me and arborist Paul Jackson. This will take the form of an analysis of moths from a moth trap at 8.30am that will be set overnight, then breakfast around 9.30 and a walk though Staverton taking a picnic lunch. If we are blessed with a couple of good days’ weather, then the moths caught the night before will be breath-taking, and a stunning way to start our morning walk. Please don’t delay in booking as we anticipate that this too will be a very popular event.

Thank you for your wonderful company and look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Steve x