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Naturestimeline (birdingasabusiness)

Naturestimeline (birdingasabusiness) is all about Benchmarking Birds. I am a Freelance Contractor offering clients bespoke Avian conservation monitoring projects. Through my audio productions, I hope to provide some insights into what I do, who I work with and further insights into what I believe it takes to conserve and enhance British wildlife.

#recording #corvids #pigeons #birds #conservation #songbirds #landmanagement #speciesmanagement #speciesism #intervention #birdsong #soundtrack #soundscapes #speech #clicking #silence #narration #monologue #snort #sniff #music #humming

Create a habitat, and the birds will come. But which birds will feel safe and thrive in said habitat, which will breed and which will not? Will the ones deemed most successful be the ones facing local or regional extinctions, or will they be the usual suspects? Human interventionist approaches are increasingly relevant in our fragmented human and i...

The good, the bad, and the ugly of woodlands are indicated quite easily by the make-up of the species present. If there are no songbirds or very few songbirds present, you clearly have a problem with your woodland management routines. The best woodlands are those with plentiful wildlife, especially birds. Woodland birds require differing habitat st...

Greenfinches (Chloris chloris) are such beautiful songbirds; LISTEN to this one. What's not to like with these birds?

Please keep your garden feeders and birdbaths clean, as bacterial infections such as Trichomonosis have been known to kill these birds and their songbird friends. And I don't know about you; I want to keep hearing their songs on m...

The early autumn is often the peak passage time for Pipits and Larks coming from further afield. Focussing on Meadow Pipits (Anthus pratensis), this recording discusses how you might identify one by sound alone.

Boy, oh boy, some birds can be most noisy and not really the best thing to do when you have your young in tow. Managing woodlands and making them healthy and resilient promotes soundscapes just like this.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Driving past each farmer's field at high speed will never tell you what is happening at "ground level". Walking by or through them, one field parcel at a time or working within them will reveal much beauty. Beautiful Skylark song can be heard beyond my voice in the background of this sound clip, so we clearly s...

Some very vocal birds are on this brief soundtrack, recorded in July from a woodland setting. One of the birds featured currently resides on the UK "conservation concern" listing, namely the Spotted Flycatchers (Muscicapa striata), which are presently Red-listed.

If only, as a species, we appreciated creating habitat alone does not solve many of the most pressing conservation issues. Certain predators at their current population densities are causing local impacts on vulnerable species populations. We must act now before these species become extinct, locally or regionally. It is just a question of balance!...

Amazing birds to observe, and amazingly, a bird that has been loitering around my garden for many weeks.

Hunger games. Being far from a game, it is often a matter of life or death for our bird life. Hungriness occurs at almost any season, given the current climatic periods of droughts, windstorms and deluges, and back again. Survival of the fittest, maybe, but if birds go without food for sustained periods, they will die, and many gorgeous wild voices...

There are times when it is good to talk muck. In this recording snippet, "Straight from the Farmer's Fields," I observe many songbirds feeding on a muck heap. Applying sensitively to crops and spreading muck on the land is an excellent environmental deed, not a bad option, in my opinion. The songbirds here were thriving off it, and in other places,...

What is it like as a bird to feel panicked, so much so that you fear death? Often perceived as the enemy of ground-nesting birds and other vulnerable woodland and hedge-dwelling songbirds by causing mayhem, the Crow can sometimes meet its maker. This observation was recorded straight "from the fields" while undertaking my paid studies, and what an...

Warblers are often regarded as the ultimate songbird species, and the Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) is no exception. Given that I mentioned in this sound clip that the bird was hiding, I guess it's appropriate that my presented image is of a female with a brown cap instead of a black one. Nonetheless, you will NEVER forget that voice when up close...

How do you recognise a good hedge? In truth, you don't need to; the birds will let you know. Thrushes, Buntings, and Warblers all nest and rear their next generation in well-structured hedges with a strong base layer. If these birds are not present, you are failing to conserve them.

Sustainable farming businesses are alive with Songbirds and other wildlife. What could be better? Corn Bunting's survival chances are enhanced only when our farms and farmers also survive—more food for thought from Tony William Powell and naturestimeline (birdingasabusiness).

Another description of just how you can, as a landowner or land manager, quickly realise when you are delivering wildlife conservation successfully. Data, data, data.

Here, I describe at least one way of knowing when you're delivering wildlife conservation successfully.

Skylarks singing over a field cropped with Beans.

Skylarks are the most enjoyable of farmland birds; their song is simply stunning. They love arable farms and arable crops, but as always, timing is everything. Once they have decided where they want to nest and rear their next generation, we should try to assist them as best we can. Why? They are currently at least one category rarer than the Amber...

More proof, as if we needed it, that doing the right thing by our increasingly imperilled ground-nesting birds is no easy task. Selective and successful removal of nest predators alongside habitat enhancements and constant surveillance delivers higher numbers of threatened species. If we humans were getting rarer by the day and required regular int...

Given the opportunity where Land and Wildlife Managers use all the legal conservation tools, Farmland birds can thrive. This place and associated sound recording is a testament to that very fact.

The soil beneath our feet needs conservation, especially within our food and wildlife-producing farmlands. Within this sound recording, you might find evidence of how our farmers and land managers are doing just that and how it feeds the birds.

A close encounter with a Cuckoo and what are the chances a rare bird like a Cuckoo could be outwitting a common species such as the Carrion Crow.

Often, one of the first bird species to start singing each new year is the Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs). A surefire way to encourage population increases in such birds is by legally controlling their nest predators, providing additional supplementary feeding via feeders or spreading seed on farmland and woodland tracks. The end result will be achi...

Whitethroats (Sylvia communis), being long-range migrant species, need all the luck they can muster when it comes to raising a successful brood. What they don't need is someone or something near their nests. Again, when birds emit distraction calls or produce distraction displays, it often means a nest of young or fledged young are present nearby.

Uk populations of Swallows in recent years for reasons unknown to us lesser mortals (as is nature's way, we don't know all the answers) are declining rapidly. So much so, as I state in this field recording, there were more Carrion Crows on site and with fledged young than there were Swallows present.

First of several tracks considering how and why our farmland birds and other wildlife can adapt well to our ever-changing food-producing fields. This track recorded "on the job" proves that #Meat and #Dairy Farms do and will continue to enhance their environmental credentials when allowed. Wildlife and Farming working for the birds, what's not to l...

Aren't hedgerows beautiful? When thickset, complete with a lush understory and predator-proof, these places thrive with wildlife. Don't hedge your bets on birds feeling safe in any old hedge; it has to be predator-safe for birds to rear successful numbers of offspring.

A Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) will try to alert its partner to potential predators when raising its offspring; such behaviours are known as off-nesting. When birds emit distraction calls or produce distraction displays, it often means a nest of young or fledged young are present nearby.

Why conserve songbirds? I think if you open both your eyes and your ears to the world around you, you'll realise why; if not, do listen in to my debating here. Featured within one of my personal favourites is the Lesser Whitethroat (not the Common Whitethroat congener as incorrectly suggested on the track).

How fit for purpose are our countryside's hedgerows for our bird communities and other wildlife?

Like many other bird species, Robins (Erithacus rubecula) need all the luck they can muster when raising a successful brood. What they don't need is someone or something near their nests. Again, when birds emit distraction calls or produce distraction displays, it often means a nest of young or fledged young is nearby. Learn the calls (in this case...