Dawn Chorus Walk

When we place adverts for new trustees to join The Watercress Way we don't mention that we may require them to get up at 3.00 am on occasion......But it was at just this hour that some of us were rising, and almost shining, as we got ready to begin the first event of the charities' 'Dawn to Dusk day'. On this day each year we showcase the wonderful route we have created and it's fascinating history and ecology.

The opening event is always a firm favourite and involves a guided pre-dawn and dawn walk along part of the route through the beautiful Hampshire countryside, with the many and varied birds that make up the dawn chorus being identified and described. Each year a different section of the route is chosen, and this year it was Sutton Scotney that saw attendees gather in the darkened car park of the superb 'Gratton' public open space to be briefed and led by trustee and enthusiastic amateur Clive Cook, and proper ornithologist Mike Robinson.

The male avian participants of the chorus generally have a set order that they announce themselves to the world at large, and to females of their species in particular. And so it proved, with the first Robin and Blackbird piping up before even the first streaks of dawn reached the horizon. It's not just birds that are seen, as whilst the group were gathered by the banks of the River Dever listening to an increasing number of new songs and calls, a friendly Hedgehog ambled through the torch beams.

Our route takes in a great variety of habitats and environments, and the morning's 2.5 miles took in riversides, suburbia, open farmland, mature trees and woodland, church yards, and quiet country lanes as the sky brightened, and birds also became visible as well as heard. The competition among the male birds to be heard by prospective female mates, is keen, and carried on at volume, so at its height the noise and number vying for attention and supremacy is a joy for the human listener. Across the almost three hours the group were out and entertained by one of Britain's' loveliest natural events, a total of 36 different species were heard and/or seen. Equally lovely was the sight of the teas, coffees and Danish pastries being dispensed from the back of the chairman's car as the group wend its way back onto the Gratton, as the wider world woke up oblivious to the aural delights at the start of that day.

For those interested, the 36 birds that were seen and/or heard were: