Listen out for the Lesser Whitethroat!
While you’re out and about around Wingfield over the summer, have a look and a listen for a Lesser Whitethroat. It’s an LBJ (little brown job) that many people have never heard of, but which is present in good numbers around Wingfield this summer.
Like most warblers, Lesser Whitethoats are summer visitors to the UK, spending our winter months in Africa’s Sahel region, flying via the eastern Mediterrannean. Around Wingfield, natural hedgerows are the preferred habitat and there are currently at least 2 birds singing across the fields between the pub and the church.
Without their song, Lesser Whitethroats would often go unnoticed – they’re small (about the size of a Blue Tit) with grey upper parts and a white throat. But if you can recognise their song you can often track them down and watch them as they deliver their tune from the top of a hedge or a small tree. And don’t be put off by having to recognise the song – it’s one of the easiest to recognise in the summer months, and an example can be heard here. It starts with a few loose, sometimes scratchy notes followed by a strong repetition of the same note.
So why not have a listen. https://youtu.be/
Imagine how you could impress your friends as you walk across the fields and say ‘Ah! A Lesser Whitethoat singing in the hedge over there!’
With thanks to Wingfield resident Jon Clark for providing these details.