Hi all
I'm new to this forum, so hi!
Could someone please save my sanity and help me identify this birdsong....
http://www.mediafire.com/?m52mmkyn4yy
I've heard this in 2 different places in Somerset, during the past 2 summers.
I can identify a lot of birds by sight and sound, but this one has me stumped.
I have only caught a glimpse of it once, from a distance. It's a small brown bird with an undulating flight (I think).
Thanks in advance
This new forum is dreadful.
Hi
I've had a good listen but the recording is so faint that I can't be 100% sure. However, it sounds like a warbler and coupled with your description of the flight I wonder if it's a whitethroat? The males often sing during a 'dancing' display flight, kind of bouncing in the air a few metres above a favoured stretch of hedgerow. Does that sound like what you saw/heard?
If you could describe the habitat that might offer another clue...
Cheer
Colin
Thanks for taking the time to listen and help Colin. It's really appreciated.
I've listened to the Whitethroat (and Lesser Whitethroat) on the RSPB site, and I don't THINK it's either of them.
I haven't seen it dance as you describe, because I can never seem to see it very clearly. It's generally hidden away in some very bushy trees. If it IS a Whitethoat, then I should be able to recognise it if I can get a glimpse, as I'm familiar with the look of them.
As for location I've heard it in 2 places within town, both places are quite urban (housing estate / semi industrial estate/ urban park) along a tree lined brook (in one location I heard it from trees that were approx 20 yards from the brook, the other place the trees directly border the brook/stream). There are open fields next to the trees. This is in Somerset.
I will try and get a better recording of it if I can.
This is really starting to frustrate me. I spent most of last summer trying to find out what this bird was, and it only dawned on me this year that I could record it on my phone and ask on here. I'm very close to emailing Bill Oddie or Chris Packham with it. lol.
As I type this, I can hear the bird in the trees about 30 yards away (can't record it from this distance though). And I certainly can't see it in it's tree cover.
I also think it's some kind of Warbler, but cannot pinpoint which one. I think I can rule out Reed, Sedge, Willow and Cetti's Warblers as we have lots of those down here, and I'm familiar with their song.
Thanks again.
Hello thegoon
Welcome to our wonderful world.
My first ever post to this site was to ask about a bird that sounds very like the one you are trying to identify - a little brown bird with undulating flight. I saw two of them flying along the canal. Colin was also very kind trying to identify it (a sort of warbler, he suggested) but I am still stumped, as I now know it wasn't the usual suspects (reed, sedge or willow warbler). I haven't seen them since, but I am still really curious as to what they were.
Keep us posted with any sightings!
Cheers
Pipit
Hi there
I don't profess to be an expert on this but your description of an undulating flight seems more like a member of the finch family than a warbler. I've listened to the sound and I'm going to (tentatively) suggest a linnet.
See what you think on the RSPB birds calls and also at this site.
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/eurasian-linnet-carduelis-cannabina
Probably off the mark but worth a try.
Regards
TJ
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Hi thegoon welcome to the forum.
I have listened to your recording and albeit is somewhat distorted, I'm relatively certain the bird is either a Blackcap or Garden Warbler.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/blackcap/index.aspx
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/gardenwarbler/index.aspx
Very similar song.
If you do have a better recording then I would be able to give you a definitive answer.
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way
Thanks very much for your reply.
I can now confirm that it was indeed a Blackcap. I managed by sheer chance to be in the right place at the right time, as the male Blackcap in question decided to land in a tree right next to me, and sing loudly in full view.
Always satisfying when that happens. It's a lovely sweet song, isn't it!
I shall decide my bird was a Blackcap too as I have seen them in the reeds by the canal where I live.
Well done thegoon