30 Days Wild: Day 11 - Up with the lark

This morning we were "up with the lark" to do a breeding bird survey at dawn.

Breeding bird surveys in woodland are mostly done by identifying the calls and song of the birds present, you don't often get to actually see them in the open. Maria is the birder in our outfit, I'm just the apprentice / sherpa!

Most notable birds of the morning were wood warbler, cuckoo and tree pipit (see very distant photo below!).

A bird of woodland edge and grassland with scattered trees, they are similar (and related) to meadow pipit but have a distinctly different call. They call from tree perches and also launch their song flight from these perches as opposed to meadow pipit who tend to launch themselves from the ground/low vegetation.