Free winter birds by ear event
Find waxwings, bramblings and firecrests this season | Give birdsong lessons for Xmas | How Birdsong Academy began
Jump straight to:
The last of summer’s birds are long gone. Fieldfares and Redwings chuckle and squeak in the gloom. Out on the marshy flood, Wigeon whistle. Still the Robins sing.
Daylight is at a premium, and so is the sunshine. We steal the moments we can.
To make the most of winter’s nature, it helps to unwrap our ears. That’s what our free event next Wednesday is all about. Brave ears, and dreaming of the spring to come.
Free event, Weds 7 Dec: ID winter birds by ear
Any winter's day can be brightened by an encounter with a Firecrest, a Brambling or a Waxwing - and your chances of finding them are considerably enhanced when you know what to listen for.
In this free event on Zoom, you'll find out
how to recognise each species by its contact call
where and when to go searching
what features to look for in the field
All welcome, BYOMP (bring your own mince pie).
If Santa watched birds…
He probably wouldn’t get all his presents delivered on time.
Also, I think he’d buy a birdsong training event for his loved ones. So for the person in your life who’s holding on to the promise of spring, how about a ticket for walking workshop, or the 10-week Birdsong Essentials course?
Spring walkshops at Stanmer Park, Brighton
Dates are available to book for March and April 2023. As a subscriber to this list, you can get £10 off by using the code SUBSTACK10 when you buy through the Birdsong Academy website.
More dates and new venues to be announced soon.
Birdsong Essentials 2023
Places are already filling up for the first cohort of 2023, which begins in February and runs for 10 weeks. It’s a step-by-step approach to building your identification skills and appreciation of birdsong, through a mix of podcast-style lessons and online materials, group practice sessions, and expert ID support.
For those that can afford it, the price is £150 (or £200 for two people sharing materials), with the fee rising to £170 / £225 after 1 January 2023.
For those keen to join but feeling the £ squeeze, there are places available for a much-reduced fee and payment in instalments. Just get in touch and we can work it out.
Birdsong Academy in three minutes
Recently I was invited to talk at a climate and nature event about Birdsong Academy, but to talk for no more than three minutes. This proved a useful exercise for me, a known rambler.
It started like this:
When we locked down in the spring of 2020, something very strange happened. Lots of people started asking whether the birds had got louder.
This is what happens when the cars are parked up, and the sun is shining, and when we have more time to notice what’s around us. And maybe when we have reason to contemplate what really matters too.
You can read the rest on the Birdsong Academy website if you like.
As always, feedback, ideas, questions and comments, on any of this, are most welcome.
Wishing you all a warm December.
~ Charlie