It's cold. It's wet. It's windy. It must be another Bank Holiday.
It was our Dawn Chorus event this morning too. Despite the weather, a dozen people made the effort to get up early. They put some of the birds to shame. Several people in the group heard their first cuckoo of 2010 before we had set off from the car park.
There were some (short) sunny spells and birds responded by singing well, at least until the next shower reached us. One of our loudest, and most distinctive, birds made a valiant effort to keep quiet, and it managed to hold out until the end of the event. Just as we decided to have our coffee and croissants, a Cetti's warbler burst into song. It was our eighth warbler species of the morning.
One benefit of a dawn chorus in weather like this is that, with few birds singing at any one time, it is easier to hear individual birds and the different songs from the different species.
There were some great non-vocal moments too - the distinctive whooshing sounds made by a mute swan's wings as it flies, the clatter of a wood pigeon's wings as it takes off, and sky-dancing marsh harriers. The roller-coaster display flight of the harriers looked exhilarating. You could imagine them making the most of the gusting winds to rise up over the reeds then plunge down, almost to the level of the reeds, before rising again.