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A practical, informative and entertaining guide to help you identify the birds whose sings and calls can be heard throughout our forests and woodlands at this time of year.
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As part of the Â鶹Éç’s SPRINGWATCH event, Brett Westwood presents a helpful and entertaining guide to help you identify many of the birds which can be seen and heard in woods and forests at this time of year.
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| Brett Westwood (left) and Stephen Moss (right) in search of the variousÌýwoodland birds. |
The series is recorded on location in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, where keen birdwatcher and writer Stephen Moss joins Brett to swap notes and advice on how to identify the birds of this and other forests and woodlands.
Each week, the series focuses on a different group of birds, namely Classic woodland species, (like nuthatch and treecreeper), Common warblers (including chiffchaff and willow warbler), an Oakwood trio and a soloist (a band of three and the nightingale), Conifer specialists (including siskin, goldcrest and crossbill) and the Big Stuff, (birds like jays, jackdaws tawny owls and sparrowhawks). Not only is there advice on how to recognise birds visually, but also how to identify them from their calls and songs, and for this series, wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson has recorded the songs and calls of birds both here and elsewhere in the UK.
This entertaining and practical series will help you distinguish blackcaps from garden warblers, and chiff chaffs from willow warblers. It should appeal not only to complete bird-watching novices but also to those who are eager to learn more about our woodland visitors.
Accompanying this series, there’s also an interactive webpage Brett Westwood’s Guide to BritishBirdsongÌý (see below) where you can listen to the calls and songs of individual birds.
Programme 1 Â鶹Éç Radio 4, Sun 25 May, 14.45
CLASSIC WOODLAND BIRDS: In this programme, Brett and Stephen discuss how to identify some of our classic woodland birds, namely Nuthatch (the only bird you’ll see descending the trunk of a tree) and Treecreeper, Long-tailed Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
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Programme 2 Â鶹Éç Radio 4, Sun 1 June, 14.45
COMMON WARBLERS: Two pairs of birds are discussed; Chiffchaff and Willow warbler (which look similar but sound very different), and then Blackcap and Garden Warbler (which have similar songs, but look very different).
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Programme 3 Â鶹Éç Radio 4, Sun 8 June, 14.45
THE OAKWOOD TRIO AND A SPECIAL SOLOIST: Three Oak wood specialists come in for scrutiny; Wood warbler, Redstart and Pied flycatcher, and then a scrub-loving bird and one of the most beautiful soloists of the woodland edge; the Nightingale.
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Programme 4 Â鶹Éç Radio 4, Sun 15 June, 14.45
CONIFER SPECIALISTS: Brett and Stephen move into an area of conifer trees to look and listen for three conifer-loving birds which on occasions do turn up in gardens; Siskin, Goldcrest and Coal Tit and then a bird which is highly unlikely to be seen in a garden, as it’s a real conifer specialist, the Crossbill.
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Programme 5 Â鶹Éç Radio 4, Sun 22 June, 14.45
THE BIG STUFF!: In the last programme of this series, Brett and Stephen discuss and listen to some of the larger birds you might see and hear in the forest; Jays, Jackdaws, Tawny owls and Sparrowhawks.
ÌýListen again to this edition |
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RELATED LINKS |
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Brett Westwood's Guide To British Birdsong
Â鶹Éç Springwatch
The Â鶹Éç is not responsible for the content of external websites
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