Birdsong

There is a blackbird that has started waking me up early every morning.It is driving me mad ,not because it is so early,at the moment just before 5am but because of the song that it is singing,or rather a phrase in that song.It is catchy like a pop song.Throughout the day I hear this bird,sometimes faintly but every time somewhere in its song the same phrase.I work in other gardens and listen carefully but it is only this one bird that uses this phrase.Never noticed it before,but like a trainspotter I collect bird noises,differentiating the hyena like call of a woodpecker from the squeeky toy sound of a swallow or the low distress call of birds when  a predator is around and even the warning calls of birds when someone else is in the garden eg the boss - so look busy.
This week as part of my habitataid work I went to Archies field for the first time to check progress and to spray weedkiller on some thistles emerging on the margins.The roughly triangular shaped field is right next to the A303.The topsoil has been scraped off and left to one side and is the major culprit for the thistles.This leaves a mainly sandy over gravel meadow just perfect for wildflowers and considering this is only its first year and pretty early in the season very impressive.I am looking forward to the results later in the year.

While I was there I could not help looking at what birds were there.As we were so close to a major road with a constant supply of road kill there were plenty of magpies and crows and even a buzzard.Then being lucky enough to work in tranquil surroundings it struck me that you could not hear any birdsong it all being drowned by the roar of traffic from the road.Now most  people in this country hear other noises ,the odd car or children playing but this was oppressive.It was like living next to Niagra falls constantly overpowering everything.Do you know I missed that pesky blackbird!