Love is in the air as Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s Alan Wright wanders through Boilton Wood, where spring is starting to show as primroses and snowdrops appear
You can see it, smell it and hear it, as birds are starting to call out to their mates. In fact, that birdsong means you can literally feel the love in the air.
The dawn chorus is at its loudest in spring and the first thing I hear is the “teacher, teacher” call of the great tit and the repeated-three-times notes of the song thrush, both are nesting or ready to nest in early spring, along with long-tailed tits and the glorious blackbird
No dawn chorus would be complete without the piping tunes of the blackbird, it is the first to sing in the mornings whether you are lost in the woods or lying in bed at home. The blackbird will sit on tree branches, rooftops, lampposts and telegraph poles and just let rip.
Blackbirds will be fewer in number now as migrants have returned to the continent. Our native birds have brighter yellow bills, standing out from their black head and body. Females are brown, to hide them as they nest low down in trees and shrubs and when the juveniles appear later in spring they will be brown with ginger streaks.
Great tits and blue tits will be flitting around the woodland, looking for trees to nest in. Great tits are larger with black, white and yellow markings, while the blue tit is blue and yellow. Chicks will appear larger than their parents when they puff up feathers to make them look like feisty kids.
Most birds can see ultra-violet (UV) light and studies have shown the blue crown on the blue tits’ heads glows brightly under UV light. Male blue tits actually choose females with brightly coloured crowns as they make fitter mothers.
Less obvious at the time of year is the long-tailed tit, which hangs around in gangs of up to 20 in winter. Long-tailed tits then pair up in spring and create domed nests in a bush or the fork of a tree, camouflaged with cobwebs and lichen. The nest is luxurious, lined with as many as 1,500 feathers, the perfect landing place for 8-12 eggs. And although it sounds like a cosy place to spend the spring, these birds will be on the go looking for insects and spiders to feed themselves and their young.
The long-tailed tit has a long black-and-white tail which is bigger than its body. It has a black, white and pink back, a white head with a wide, black eyestripe, and a pale pink belly. They are ridiculously cute.
As you approach Boilton, Nab, Redscar and Tunbrook Woods, one of Lancashire’s last ancient woodlands, you will hear a knocking. This drumming is the display of the beautiful great spotted woodpecker looking for a mate and marking its territory.
Great spotted woodpeckers excavate holes in trees and nest in these woods. They will be seen probing crevices with their long bills and sticky tongues, seeking insects. You will see them but it is more likely they will be flying away, in a bouncing motion. They are black and white, with red underneath the tail. Males have a red patch at the back of the head.
Another noisy bird inhabiting Boilton, is the tawny owl with the females “too-witting” and the male “too-woos”. Again, this is nesting season for this handsome bird of prey. They call out as the mist descends on Number One Pit at Brockholes, so it is an eerie sensation if you are around at nightfall.
Tawny owls are our biggest common owl, and you may see them sitting on a favourite branch on the lookout for small mammals. The tawny owl is mottled reddish-brown, with a paler underside. It has a big, round head, rounded wings, large, dark eyes, and a dark ring around its face.
There is something energising about walking into a wood filled with birdsong in spring. I thoroughly recommend it.
READ MORE: The Lancashire Life woodland at Brockholes Nature Reserve
