Blackbirds sing their hearts out

We’ve had rival blackbirds melodiously singing their hearts out while declaring the boundaries of their territories around our house; they seem to sing all day and well into the evening without straining their singing muscles, and shortly before writing these notes they were joined by a thrush who increased the volume of bird-song with his own very melodious but repetitive music.

Our swallows arrived in April to be followed a week or two later by house martins, and then the swifts made their presence known earlier this month as they screeched around the heavens in their search for food and nesting sites. Members of the warbler family have also been here some time with chiff-chaffs making their presence known by their song, which is a repetitive sound of their name.

They have been calling all around us in gardens and nearby copses, but they are rarely seen.

The problem with chiff-chaffs is that they are almost identical to their cousins, the willow warblers, who are likewise very difficult to see among the new foliage. One difference that is evident only with a close-up view of either bird is that the chiff-chaffs legs are a darker brown than those of the willow warbler.

Another member of the warbler family is the whitethroat and several arrived locally about a month ago with their distinctive white throats making them readily identifiable as they dart out of trees and hedgerows to snatch passing insects. The male has a grey cap while his partner’s is a warm brown; both have reddishbrown backs and wings and their presence is sometimes revealed by the short but distinctive song from deep within a clump of leafy cover.

The summer-visiting bird most readily identifiable to most of us by its song is the cuckoo. It arrives in April from Africa with April 14 being declared Cuckoo Day because that is its usual time it announces its presence in this country. To date, I have not heard a cuckoo this year even though some may have arrived more than a month ago. There is no doubt the cuckoo is in serious decline in this country and the reasons given include the destruction of its habitat, especially hedgerows, but also the increased use of chemical pesticides which reduce the amount of its food. Another factor may be changes to our weather systems – they all add up to create problems for his iconic if roguish bird.

This year, our locality has been enlivened by the presence of a rare summer visitor – a hoopoe. Slightly larger than a mistle thrush it is instantly recognisable by its pinkishbrown plumage which is enhanced by a black-and-white tail with prominent black-and-white bars upon its wing tips. It has a long downward curving beak and a crest matching its pinkish plumage, being also tipped with black and white. Sometimes the crest is erect, and at other times closed to form a point at the rear of its head.

Hoopoes are rare summer visitors to Britain, although they have been seen as far north as the Shetlands having overshot their breeding grounds.

Some years ago, I saw one in Majorca but have never noticed such a visitor in this country. However, our village was privileged to host a hoopoe a couple of weeks before writing this notes – it was noticed by a wildlife artist who specialises in birds – and one has also been seen at Ugthorpe on the North York Moors not far from Whitby.

These sightings could, of course, have been the same bird although several may visit this country at the same time. This is another bird whose call sounds like its name – a low and rather resonant “hoop, hoop, hoop.”

Corncrake memories

A correspondent has reported by email that he heard corncrakes but it was more than half a century ago in fields to the west of Darlington. My contact was then a lad of about 10 years of age when he heard them in a hayfield or cornfield over the garden fence. That field has since been redeveloped as an extension of a council estate and Branksome School.

It was the development and modern use of farmland that reduced the number of corncrakes in this country but they did survive in some places where traditional farming methods were still being practised. They were heard about the time of my correspondent’s note on farmland near Glaisdale, where I was brought up, but never since.

I’ve both heard and seen them in Ryedale, but that was some years ago.

In this country, corncrakes were virtually extinct by the turn of this century and are now especially protected.

About the size of a small moorhen, they are a warm brown colour with a dumpy appearance and in flight, their legs are often dangling when covering short distances. Their call is distinctive – some say it is like a football supporters’ rattle, and others say it is like the teeth of a comb being drawn over a matchbox!

My correspondent said it was like hearing “scrape-scrape.” I thank him for his memories.

Purple carrots

Discussions with a local hotelier led to me being made aware that, before the 17th century in this country and elsewhere, carrots were coloured purple. It is very difficult to visualise a purple carrot but it does seem this was their natural colour in bygone days whether grown in Britain or overseas. Apparently, the origin of cultivated carrots was in the vicinity of modern Afghanistan and they were coloured purple.

It was the Dutch who managed to cultivate orange coloured carrots by eliminating the pigment anthocyanin from their products and from that stage, they developed the juicy sweet orange-coloured carrots we enjoy today.

There is one story which suggests the orange variety became popular in Holland because it was seen as a tribute to the Royal House of Holland during the struggle for Dutch independence. This could be nothing more than a rumour, but the fact is that the sweeter, tastier and fatter orange coloured carrots caught the imagination of the vegetable-eating public.

There is another myth associated with carrots; eating carrots them improve your eyesight? During World War II, British air-gunners were able to shoot down enemy aircraft in the darkness due to a very efficient radar network. The Germans did not have radar and knew nothing about it, and so the British spread the rumour that the gunners’ superior eyesight was due to a diet of carrots. And we still believe that carrots improve our eyesight.