Early Birdsong

admin
, 02 March 2020
Early Birdsong
Song Thrush

By Charlotte Owen

WildCall Officer

Birdsong is making a comeback.  Just as we’ve got used to the relative quiet of the long winter months, the first tentative notes of nearly-spring spark an instant remembrance of what’s been missing all this time. 

It hasn’t been completely absent, thanks to the winter performances of robin and wren, but these seasonal soloists are now joined by the beginnings of a chorus.  The less tuneful members compensate with sheer volume and enthusiasm, refusing to fade into the background - and none more so than the Great Tit. The first “tea-cher, tea-cher” call is a welcome surprise but its repetitive insistence sounds just like a squeaky bicycle pump, and once you’ve tuned in it’s hard to tune out again.  It may seem like the great tit has a limited repertoire but don’t let its simplicity fool you: “tea-cher” is just one of 70 different calls, all designed to advertise and defend a breeding territory.  By hopping about between several different perches and blasting forth a different song at each one, males can trick their rivals into thinking they are facing an army.

Blackbirds are starting to pipe up too.  Their beautiful melodies will soon be in full swing providing the soundtrack to the summer, but in the meantime it’s their cousins the thrushes who really come into their own.  The Mistle Thrush has the same mellow tone as the blackbird but sings with less gusto in a minor, melancholy key.  He will sing a single phrase and then pause, as if checking what comes next, before continuing his hesitant recital.  While the phrases may build in complexity, it’s as if the song never really gets going.  Despite this apparent stage fright, the Mistle Thrush has no qualms about singing from the treetops during the stormiest of weather, pouring forth his song in fierce defiance of the wind and rain.  In contrast, the song thrush is bold and bright and takes joy in repetition, singing a single phrase three or four times over before moving onto the next.  

Listen out for these exuberant songsters as spring edges ever closer, and the dawn chorus builds to its full melodic glory.

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1788220744.3640 [907] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1788220744.40660.0426Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1788220744.40690.0003Server address: 216.73.216.54
1788220744.4070.0001Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1788220744.4070Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/early-birdsong
    [s] => early-birdsong
    [1] => early-birdsong
)
1788220744.40730.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788220744.40870.0014 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1788220744.41110.0024 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24665207
1788220744.4120.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24665207
1788220744.41290.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-08-31 23:59:00' AND saleTo>'2026-08-31 23:59:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1788220744.41490.002 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='early-birdsong')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-31 23:59:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1788220744.41880.0038 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1788220744.41970.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1990 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-31 23:59:00'
1788220744.42090.0013 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1788220744.4220.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1788220744.42310.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=181 LIMIT 1
1788220744.42410.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=45 LIMIT 1
1788220744.42490.0008Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788220744.42510.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1788220744.42610.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-31 23:59:00' AND postSlug='early-birdsong'
1788220744.45730.0312Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788220744.45780.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1788220744.45990.0021Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1788220744.46020.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1788220744.46140.0012 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1788220744.46330.0019 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788220744.46770.0044 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788220744.46850.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788220744.47160.0032Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1788220744.47170.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788220744.47260.0009 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788220744.47310.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788220744.47630.0032 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788220744.47750.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788220744.47830.0009 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1788220744.48150.0032 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788220744.48280.0013 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1788220744.4860.0032 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1788220744.48650.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788220744.48690.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1788220744.48790.001Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1788220744.48830.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='early-birdsong')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-31 23:59:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1788220744.49130.003 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1788220744.49190.0006 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788220744.49270.0007Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1788220744.49350.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1990 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1788220744.57130.0778 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1788220744.57160.0003Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1788220744.57190.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1788220744.57290.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1788220744.57390.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1788220744.57480.001 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788220744.57850.0036 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788220744.57910.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788220744.58220.0031 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788220744.58330.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1788220744.58430.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1788220744.5850.0007 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788220744.5890.004 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788220744.58970.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788220744.59270.003 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788220744.59650.0038 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1788220744.59750.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1788220744.59810.0007 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788220744.60150.0034 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788220744.60230.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788220744.60790.0056 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788220744.6110.0031 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1788220744.6120.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1788220744.6220.0101 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1788220744.62550.0034 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1788220744.62630.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1788220744.62920.0029 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1788220744.63040.0012Request time: 0.2682
1788220744.63040Process time: 0.268
1788220744.63040Memory: 1.6247