Friday 11 February 2011

Twitter

Not a social network, but the sounds of Spring which greeted our ears as we walked around Peewit Carr and Straw's Bridge this morning.  The birds seem to be going crazy with the arrival of milder temperatures and they are all eager to let everyone know about it.  Great Tits, Blue Tits, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Robins, Dunnocks, Wrens, Coots, Mallards and Tufted Ducks were all twittering, singing, chirping and quacking their delight as they sense Spring in the air.  Even the Crows were joining in, but their guttural cawing doesn't quite reach the vocal gymnastics of a Song Thrush.
The red-stemmed Dogwoods around Straw's Bridge are beginning to show a sprouting bud or two, but they are so covered by lichens, that it's tricky to see the buds.
In some places, the lichens cover the stems so much that you can't even see the red bark of the tree.
As we walked back home, we were delighted to see a small flock of about 15 Waxwings, still flitting about in the Hawthorn trees.
Still a stunning sight, they were adding to the bird-song of the countryside with their quiet, high-pitched, jingling, twittering calls.  It can't be long now until they get the urge to leave us and head for home in the far north of Europe and I, for one, will be very sad to see them go.

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