Monday 27 January 2025 9.00 - 10.00 a.m.
Winter in the woods and signs of Spring?
Winter has hit us hard this year. From frozen nights and icy days, to lashing wind, rain and hail, and to days of overcast, damp and cold gloominess. The rain has come in bucketfuls making channels of water down the slopes of the wood and deep puddles in the crevices. During those lovely summer days we often talk of how important a good winter is, but when it comes in all its correctness we are reminded of its brutality and wonder how nature can possibly survive. But survive it does.
Late January brought the first sign of a break in the weather. Monday the 27th surprises me with a morning that doesn’t require my neighbours to diligently scrape the ice off their car. I wake hopeful of an hour of discovery in the woods. And so it is that as I arrive at the top of the woods and enter the pedestrian access gate which leads to the Horsering Meadow I can already hear bird song. What a joy. Blue Tits are flitting around, chatting and trilling as they forage for insects in the tree bark, Robins are perched on the top of the trees singing at the top of their ‘voices’ to mark out their spring territory and a solitary Dunnock is outsinging all of them with its piccolo-like high warble. Bird experts call it a squeaky little ditty but I think that is rather insulting for the power and joy that the little Dunnock puts into its tuneful song.
Whilst I’m thinking about Dunnocks they are definitely worth a proper mention. Dunnocks are easily confused with House Sparrows and to add to the confusion are also called Hedge Sparrows. However they are actually very different birds with very different songs.
Sparrows, or House Sparrows, are noisy, sociable birds that love to live in groups, darting around and communicating animatedly and constantly. The females and young are pale coloured, light brown and grey whilst the males have stronger black, white and brown markings. The song of the House Sparrow is very similar to its contact call – the song is a monotonous cheep, chirrup sung by the male to attract a female, whilst the contact call is a simple cheep cheep cheep. Sadly House Sparrows are now on the endangered list in the U.K., having been driven out of their preferred habitat of urban bushes, brambles and barns due to our drive for tidiness. House Sparrow boxes with three apertures, plus the added benefit of a bird feeder or two, are wonderful opportunities to re-establish a colony. 
Dunnocks on the other hand, whilst being almost identical in size to House Sparrows, are a noticeably duller bird - small brown and grey. Quiet and shy and often seen on their own or in pairs, they like the top of bramble bushes or the sides of woodland paths. They tend to live in dense scrub and bramble on the outskirts of the urban environment. Generally Dunnocks only become visible either to sing loudly from the top of a bush or when two males come together and chase each other around. In the BET woods Dunnocks, although often hidden, are in good numbers as evidenced by their song, House Sparrows can only be found in the surrounding gardens.
As I pass the Horsering Meadow the wood becomes gloomier but the presence of birds is everywhere. Male Blackbirds fly out from cover often directly into my path. Busy sizing up the opposition and preparing for a fight they scurry off aroud the undergrowth and take little notice as I stroll by. The number of Robins in this area, and in fact throughout the woods, is stunning. They really are thriving this spring so that it takes me quite a while to reach the Warreners Cottage and then pause to enjoy the Cottage renovations. Positioned in the tall trees overhead, the Wood Pigeons keep an eye out to see if I have brought any refreshments. Not this time but they look incredibly rotund and healthy so I’m not too concerned.
I note it is already nearly time to join up with this morning’s workparty. So I head quickly along and down the paths to meet up with the team at the Cabin. After a brief early spring visit today I’m so looking forward to real spring in a month or so. I’m sure there are yet more cold and brutal weather surprises to come but our hardy birds are clearly revelling, just as we do, in a break in the weather and a chance to make a re-appearance.