Once you hear it you listen all the time

[Tepast]

I started paying attention to birdsong ten years ago and now I am fully tuned in. I record it and try to transcribe it but it is very complex and doesn't always correspond to conventional western musical notation so I have developed a supplementary system for doing so. Even when I am not recording or transcribing I am listening. I don't seek it out but birds are everywhere so I don't have to.

It feels like another aspect of life has opened up for me. Does anyone else do this?

I would love to hear from the people who voted. Either way. But mostly I would like to talk to other people who listen to birds.

I'm nearer thr beginning of the journey you've described. I love listening to birdsong.

I'd find it so much easier to remember different birdsong if I had them written down. Might you be willing to share one of your transcriptions?

Yesterday at around 4pm, I noticed, somehow, the lengthening day. At the exact same moment, I heard a bird singing. It felt very primeval - my ears pricked like an animal's. It was as if the bird was celebrating the extra light. A promise of spring, I suppose, which would be a good thing for my ancient, cold, mammal self.

Ooh I could if you want. No one has ever asked to see them before. Not tonight, but maybe I could take a picture of one tomorrow. They are a bit haphazard looking I will warn you!

What birds do you like to hear? My favourite is the blackbird. He doesn't look like much but his song is very complex. He can sing for a long time too. I have one near me who I simultaneously love to hear and also feel very sad about because he sings in the night, which he shouldn't do. It is beautiful but it only happens because all our lampposts are led lights and I think they keep him awake. So he is shortening his lifespan by staying awake and singing for us.

@Abitlosttoday yes it is very primeval, especially if you are in woods, when I listen to birds in woods I always think that my ancestors did the same. What a beautiful way you have captured that moment, I am so happy you have shared it.

I have an app (Merlin Bird ID) that I open during dog walks and it identifies all the bird song for me. It even tells me which birds are rare for my area.

@Tepast have a listen to a dunnock..... unassuming little bird but sings beautifully!!! We have regular garden visitors of robin's and blackbirds. We have a whistling competition with them.... the birds always win!!

What an interesting post. I don’t ever listen to bird song as I don’t hear it despite living relatively rurally:

I will make an effort to listen!

Where I live there was a huge very old 50ft hedge which was home to an enormous group of sparrows who sang at daybreak & dusk. And opposite my house a 125 year old Holly tree that always seemed to have birds singing. Both have been chopped down in the last 6m. The Holly tree house was sold, & the health centre chopped down the hedge. I don't know where the birds have gone: so upsetting. OP how very interesting about birdsong patterns - a whole world!

Dunnocks are lovely birds. We have a pair who live under our hedge and they bob about the garden, very much like a Robin but less bright, and their song is glorious.

There’s an Irish man you may be interesting in who studies bird song. His name is Sean Ronayne but also goes by the name nature boy. He featured on spring watch and has a book out. He’s on social media too.

Fucking hell that’s really upsetting, why do people just chop stuff down without thinking

@floppybit yes, it's really upset me, especially the sparrows hedge 😔

My dad used to be able to mimic birdsong (he was an excellent whistler) to the extent that birds would answer him.
It was so lovely to hear and I wish we had thought to record him before he died.

Birdsong is wonderful, but it does makes me feel anxious for the birds.

That’s lovely.

I love birdsong too and am interested in birds - there’s only a few I recognise absolutely though.

We had a mother and baby song thrush (I think) in our garden the other day - the mother was making a lovely sound.
We have a lot of wood pigeons in our garden in summer and that “pee-poo” call is the sound of a hazy summer for me. Love the blackbirds song too.

But my favourite is the barn owl who lives in our garden (I think it may be a male
and female actually as I believe the “whit” is from one and the “whoo” is from the other?)

Ooh!

This is such an interesting thread - it’s genuinely piqued my interest!

What a lovely post. We sometimes get a blackbird singing in our street, and I stop as long as I can to listen. I will try tuning in more as OP suggests.

This is a great post OP. I do notice the birdsong first thing in the morning and try to differentiate and attribute the noises to specific birds. I'm going to take more notice, how lovely

It's tawny owls that do the twit twoo, not barn owls. Barn owls, when they do make a noise at all, make a very horrible kind of hissing noise that's in total juxtaposition to their beauty.

This is on BBC about Sean, it's magnificent
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0028x6c

Don't trust Merlin absolutely though. It very often gets things wrong.

Do you have another you’d recommend? This is something I’ve been interested in doing for a while.

Enjoy your pastime @Tepast , it sounds really enriching