A walk with the dawn chorus.

A lovely morning up Dunstable Downs

On Sunday morning I was very lucky to take part in the Dawn Chorus Walk, led by Mick from the RSPB. I must admit I’m normally more used to going to bed at 3.30am, not getting up, but it was definitely more than worth it.

It was very surreal arriving at the Chilterns Gateway Centre at 4.15am to a rather large group of happy people. The sun was just popping his head up over the horizon as we set off towards Chute Wood. As we got nearer to the woods, you could tell the birds were getting warmed up for they’re full song. First off was the distinctive call of the carrier crow, and for such  small birds the Great Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Bullfinch and Robin they can certainly make themselves heard! To the human ear it just sounds like beautiful bird song but for our little feathered friends its there way of telling other birds ‘yay we survived the night, I’m still here and keep off my patch!’.

Before heading off past the woods we were extremely lucky to see a Hare investigating the mornings offerings.

Morning!

Our next unexpected spot of the morning was a pipistrelle bat, making his way back to roost before the day took hold.

Night!

Onwards past the woodland, and the chorus is in full song now including Tree Creepers, Blackbirds, Goldfinches, Sky Larks and even the odd Muntjac had something to add as well. In fact it was the first time I’ve actually seen a Sky Lark, you hear them everyday up the Downs, with their lovely song but there normally so high and so small you cant spot them.

A Sky Lark enjoying breakfast.

Not only was the chorus amazing so were the views and Ivinghoe Beacon could have easily been in the Alps as the cloud level was so low. I think its safe to say I’ve seen the Downs at all times of day now :). We finished our walk with breakfast at the Chilterns Gateway Centre, which was very well recieved and greatly needed. A big thank you to Mick for a informative and very enjoyable walk. I would thoroughly recommend The Dawn Chorus to anyone, its a great way to start the day.

Wildlife species recording

During the spring, summer and autumn we carry out monitoring of some of the key species that inhabit our sites. This work is important so that we know if the management work we are carrying out is the correct type and if it is working.

As I drove into work yesterday, the snow was blanketing the ground and the foggy weather reduced visibility. I’d been thinking on the drive into work of the plans we would soon be making for monitoring and I wondered how many species might be found on such a day. At lunchtime I took a walk to see what I could find.

Firstly I went to Chute Wood and it was easy to start the list here: Oak, beech, ash, Corsican pine, elder, field maple, hazel, silver birch, hawthorn, holly & blackthorn were quickly spotted. It is often easier to identify a tree in the winter when the tree shape, colour & texture of the bark and the details of the twigs aren’t hidden by leaves. In the wood bramble, honeysuckle & ivy were easy to add to the list. A Lichenologist could have added five or six to the list but I only could add Xanthoria parietina. Ear fungus growing on Elder was easier to get. There was at least one type of moss growing on the tree trunks.

Leaving the wood I was lucky enough to hear my first three birds, behind me in the wood a great spotted woodpecker was tapping at a tree and then co-incidently a green woodpecker with its distinctive ‘yaffling’ probably disturbed from looking for ants in the grassland, finally a buzzard was calling from above the wood.

Walking across the first grass field, a cloven hoof made me think of deer but in this case I was in a field of sheep. The next animal had left its mark, a pile of small dark pellets indicated this is where a rabbit had paused for a moment or two. The next animal had again left poo as a marker – this time it had dug a small pit into which make a deposit. This was a sure sign of a Badger at work and indeed the nearby sett looked used.

Trudging back up hill, the hedge leading away from the Chilterns Gateway Centre had a Magpie perched in it.

I only saw people on my walk back to the office. A number of very English conversations about the weather later, I was back and confident that I would add to the list; indeed looking carefully around the corner to the bird feeders, in just two minutes I saw blue tit, great tit, blackbird, coal tit, nuthatch, chaffinch and robin.

29 identified species in 40 minutes – not bad on such a day, sorry make that 30 I had forgotten the European Larch I can see from my office window, wrong again our office is called Chesnut Cottage and there is a Horse Chestnut in the garden – 31 in total.

We are always keen to get records of our wildlife so please send any records that you get to bedfordshire.records@nationaltrust.org.uk telling us what yousaw, how many and where thet were – a grid reference would be ideal.