Ringstead by Joe Stevens

Recorded at Ringstead, Dorset. April 2011

Birds Squawking
This time of year the young Rooks are mobile and join the adults in big flocks to forage in pasture for leatherjackets and other food to fuel their growth. The car park field is especially popular for this. As well as rooks there are a few Crows and Magpie. The scratchy song of a Whitethroat with Chiffchaff and Pheasant can also be heard.

7:52 Birdsong
A selection of woodland birds including Chiffchaff, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Blackcap, Blackbird, Whitethroat and Wren - both the ticking alarm call and the startlingly loud song produced by such a small bird. (More about the other species in other recordings).

8:03 Near the pond in the Batch
The Willows and other scrub along with the water of the pond provide plenty of insects for food and thick cover for nesting. Singing of Blackcap, Blackbird, Chiffchaff and Wren can be heard along with Swallows overhead and the Moorhen on the pond. Also heard is the "chirring" contact call of a Whitethroat.

8:08 Roar of sea from hilltop
As well as the sea; Crows cawing, Magpie & Chiffchaff can be heard in the background. Male Pheasants showing off have been feeding in the Wheat fields nearby.

8:47 In the scrub near the beach
All the sounds of the Burning Cliff scrub. Over the sound of the waves there are Nightingales, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Wren and Whitethroat.

8:55 Near Ringstead beach
The thick scrub of Burning Cliff is ideal habitat for many bird species to nest in safely. There is a Blackcap singing loudly in the 'foreground' a very rich,melodious but all too brief song. Nightingale is in the background, occasional scratchy song of the Whitethroat and a Wren joining in.

9:04 Birdsong at Ringstead
This is a really clear recording of a singing Nightingale, from the thick impenetrable scrub of Burning Cliff (the ideal habitat for the species). Chaffinch, Wren, and Blackcap in the background.

9:08 On the beach
Crunching along the shingle around the bay between Burning Cliff towards White Nothe.

9:10 The wind in the willows
A real reminder of hot summer days the Yellowhammers in the foreground are saying "a little bit of bread and no Cheeeese" as a gentle breeze rustles the leaves, with Blackbird, Rooks and Blackcap joining in.

9:17 Waves on the beach
A calm sunny day with the gentle waves lapping and sucking at the shingle.

9:44 Wind in the trees with cows
A Chiffchaff monotonously repeats its name very close by whilst another Blackcap more tunefully joins in, both these species belong to a group known as 'Leaf Warblers'. Rooks in the background.

10:17 Birdsong and bumblebee a mate down from the skies above.
Rooks start off but again we are very close in the thick scrub to a hidden male Nightingale endeavouring to attract

10:07 Erosion/landslips in the undercliff
On the rocky beach at the bottom of the Smugglers Path looking at the jumbled debris from the landslips of the undercliff.

10:11 Talking about the undercliff
We are about to tackle the steepest bit of the climb up to the top of the Smugglers path.

10:18 The sea is azure blue below us.
Walking along the Smugglers path below White Nothe, there is Chaffinch nearby.

51degreesnorth.net