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Robin, it's another robin
Feb. 26th, 2024 11:26 amAbout a year ago, my dad got a birdsong ID app for his phone. My parents are casual birdwatchers, in that they belong to a U3A group, look at birds when they go down to the shore, and belong to the RSPB whose reserves they occasionally visit. They are absolutely not the kind of birdwatchers who keep lists or can identify anything by its song/call.
Nor am I, so when I finally got a new phone that had room for it, I downloaded the free Merlin app (insert "other bird apps are available"), and I love it. No longer do I walk round the square or the park wondering what is twittering out of sight in the hedgerows, my phone can tell me. Admittedly 80% of the twittering seems to be robins and blackbirds, both of which are ubiquitous and noisy, as well as having a range of song so that you think "Surely that isn't a robin as well?" and are wrong, but the other 20% are more interesting. That is a flock of goldfinches regularly hanging out in the tree at the back even though I almost never see them. I would not have noticed the greenfinches in the silver birch had I not known they were there, but when I did, I stopped to look and there they were. Great tits are surprisingly loud, and I don't think I'd ever noticed a chiffchaff before learning they liked a row of willows in the park. Like all ID apps, it can't be relied on 100%, but reviews suggest it is good for common birds in their usual range and that's what you get in suburban southern England. As I'm not yet able to invest the energy on longer walks, or short ones further afield, it's bringing a very enjoyable new dimension to the routine.
Nor am I, so when I finally got a new phone that had room for it, I downloaded the free Merlin app (insert "other bird apps are available"), and I love it. No longer do I walk round the square or the park wondering what is twittering out of sight in the hedgerows, my phone can tell me. Admittedly 80% of the twittering seems to be robins and blackbirds, both of which are ubiquitous and noisy, as well as having a range of song so that you think "Surely that isn't a robin as well?" and are wrong, but the other 20% are more interesting. That is a flock of goldfinches regularly hanging out in the tree at the back even though I almost never see them. I would not have noticed the greenfinches in the silver birch had I not known they were there, but when I did, I stopped to look and there they were. Great tits are surprisingly loud, and I don't think I'd ever noticed a chiffchaff before learning they liked a row of willows in the park. Like all ID apps, it can't be relied on 100%, but reviews suggest it is good for common birds in their usual range and that's what you get in suburban southern England. As I'm not yet able to invest the energy on longer walks, or short ones further afield, it's bringing a very enjoyable new dimension to the routine.