Birdland

It's been a year since I downloaded Cornell Labs' Merlin Bird ID software to my phone (thanks for the suggestion Ian S!). Since then, I've been using it to identify bird calls and songs when out and about on my walks. Today, I took the trouble to create a spreadsheet and make a note of the local birdlife that the app has identified. Turns out I have 45 different species of bird within walking distance of my działka. The most common (and also my favourite in terms of its song) is the Eurasian blackbird; the chaffinch, chiffchaff, blackcap and song thrush occupy the rest of the top five places. Rarities include the short-toed treecreeper and the Eurasian green-winged teal, both of whose calls I have only recorded but once over the past year.

Below: a bird that's not present on the British Isles, whose call is easily identified – the hoopoe (Upupa epops, or dudek in Polish). Hoopoes are notable for their crown of feathers which can be raised or lowered at will; they sunbathe by spreading out their wings and tail low against the ground, which can be seen on the lower two photos (taken at extreme range, so poor resolution). Open heathland, forests and orchards are the hoopoe's habitat.

Using this app regularly has given me new insights into the natural habitat of where I live, and allows me to observe birdlife around me. I particularly like the songbirds – not one-note wonders like the hoopoe or woodpigeon, but birds whose richly varied range of notes suggest a lexicon of meanings, syntactically structured to reflect what the singer is experiencing. Here, the Eurasian blackbird comes top, with the song thrush and nightingale thrush coming close. I wonder how long it will be before AI unravels the code.

Below: a juvenile female deer encountered in the forest. We stood like this for a moment or two before she turned round and bounded back in the direction from which she came at top speed.

"Sometimes you find a yearning for the quiet life/The country air and all its joys"

This time two years ago:
De-growth – a personal manifesto

This time two years ago:
Start Late, Finish Late - more on the Speed of Life

This time eight years ago:
Swans' way

This time nine years ago:
Sam Smith, Shepherd Neame and the Routemaster bus

This time 11 years ago:
Rainy night in Jeziorki – no flood this time!

This time 12 years ago:
Wide-angle under Pl. Wilsona

This time 13 years ago:
Ranking a better life

This time 14 years ago:
Questions about our biology and spirituality

This time 15 years ago:
Paysages de Varsovie

This time 16 years ago:
Spring walk, twilight time