get them xmas hints out lads and ask for The Sound Approach to birding by Mark Constantine & the sound approach you will not find it in WH smiths or waterstones so it has to be ordered via Birdwatch or Birding world. excellent book with two cds give us all something to listen to on the forthcoming dark nights
Greenshank is a sort of sad Tee-ooo tee-ooo whereas a Redshank is more like a reversing lorry.
Garden Warbler and Blackcap though still sound identical to me, although I think Blackcap is a bit keener and seems clearer and louder, whereas GW seems to get bored and fizzles out - or is it the other way round
What I really hate is when you go off to somewhere like Spurn (in my case) and find people confidently (and correctly) calling flyover little bunts, richards pipits, and lapland bunts. That really dents your self esteem.
But, I have to say Geoff/Merman, dont give up cause it will come. Its just one of those things that takes time. Personally I never found CD's tapes etc much use for learning from. Ok for referring back to, or to listen to if you're going out after a particular species but as a learning tool I never found them much good - it all just merged into one. I always found it sinks in more if you can manage to ID the mystery caller so to speak. I would consider myself just about competent with our local stuff and quite a few other UK spp but there are still afew that get me everytime. Blackcap and Garden Warbler are the main ones. 75% of the time I just cant decipher them and will rarely call a confident ID if I cant see the bird (cant believe I admitted that on a public forum ). Best thing is at least it makes you stop and look.
I've also found local dialects are a pain in the A***. I remember being in Thetford forest and searching like mad for a bird with an unfamiliar call, only to be told by a friend who had been there before it was a chaffinch. It sounded nowt like a chaffinch. A wren at a coastal site also gave three of us about half an hours worth of fun.
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No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
Im pretty crap at identifying birds by sound. its one of them things that comes with years of experience that i dont have. i can only do the more common birds i see regulalry. It is annoying because i hear loads of interesting things all the time flying over or hidden in a hedge but havent a clue what they are.
about a week ago i saw a starling sized bird flying over that sounded a bit like a skylark, but obviously wasnt a starling or a skylark. havent a clue what it was. any ideas?
ive got that collins book of bird songs and calls, but it only covers maybe one or two calls per bird. which is a bit useless because a lot of birds make numerous different sounds depending on what they are doing. also, some of the birds on that cd that i do know the sound of , sound different on the cd becasue they have been recorded a bit too close up and dont sound quite the same as they do 'in the field'.
this is in some part promted by the garden list debate and my attempts at the mistry birds comp,oh dear only 250 plus vagrants to identify,as the more experienced birders confidentley tick off water pipIt and glossey ibis i,m left standing in awe and bewilderment at the apparant ease birds can be located by their calls,i,ve now got an MP3 with all the songs and calls etc and i,m trying to learn the most common ones at the momment,yellow hammer and bittern easy but redshank or greenshank would be very dicey,so any of my list,s are seen and checked in the collins before i tick em,but its a big proud shiney tick when i do,anyone out there still 'green but keen'keep watching and listening.
). Best thing is at least it makes you stop and look.