Yesterday morning, as I left for work, that was the sound that greeted me as I toddled my bicycle out of my gate. The powerful, repetitive song of the chiffchaff.
Now the chiffchaff takes its name from this song, although to my ears, it should be called the "deepdoop". It is a small member of the warbler family, and although some are resident in the UK, in this part of the world these little birds, smaller than a blue tit, will have spent the winter in Southern Europe or North Africa before migrating over to us in late march.
A bird of little sense, it would be appear.
They flit about the treetops and shrubs with their tails twitching, difficult to see with their olive green backs and creamy buff underparts. But the song! Last year I heard one blasting out this two note tune for an hour without a break, maddening me as I attempted to read Aldous Huxley.
And I never saw it. In fact, I've never seen one at all. But I have certainly heard them, and so will you if you spend any time outside this...extended winter lasting till October.
Further information here;
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/chiffchaff/index.aspx
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