Tel: 01832 272783 · Email : nickpennymusic@gmail.com

Nick Penny - music and birdsong

musician and wildlife recordist

Archives for January 2025

Woodpecker and ravens

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Great spotted woodpecker by the river this morning. There’s been some drumming in the last few days, but this one was just quietly tapping about looking for grubs and insects. High winds seem to quieten the birds right down – attempts to communicate may be pointless when there’s so much noise in the trees.
While I was waiting for the woodpecker to reappear from the far side of the trunk a pair of ravens came kronking overhead. They were headed towards Southwick.

My first song thrush

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This song thrush was lording it over a hedgerow on the edge of town this morning, sending out short bursts of song to whomever it might concern. It was great to hear him – it’s been a while.
Blackbirds are still practicing their sub song at the moment – a warmish sunny day could bring them into full evensong over the next few weeks.

Spring signs

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There was real sense of spring in the air this morning. Three different wrens (including this one) popped up to warn me off their property. A pair of stonechats took turns to dance between reed stems and grass. And a woodpecker drummed out loud and proud on the far bank.

 

Bob Dylan, herons and wagtails

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On the way to see the Bob Dylan film, I stopped to look for herons. In the next month or so they’ll gather together in heronries to nest. There’s a known site at Kinewell Lake near Ringstead. It’s a lovely setting with a public path right round the perimeter. Grey herons and cormorants perched on islands, as well as great egrets which are part of the heron family. It should be a good place to watch them and get some good sound recordings of the adults and chicks.
I saw the film in Cineworld at Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre. A strange and alien setting, made even more unsettling by the video game interior design of the foyer. But the film itself was excellent – completely believable, and the music and sound design were a joy.
Walking back to the car in the dark afterwards, past the anonymous lights of the endless prestige label shops and eating places, I heard wigeon calling from the lake which runs alongside the site. Round sunken gardens at water level have been set into the terraces between groups of shops. One connects beneath the paving with the lake itself and contains a reed bed.
I heard a quiet kerfuffle on the way past and stopped by the well-lit entrance to Greggs to look down. A hundred or more tiny white faces looked up at me, pied wagtails fidgeting and swaying among the reeds as they settled down to roost for the night.

Raven calls

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The gutteral, primeval call of a raven echoing through the wintry trees above Southwick this morning. Towards the end it takes off, and you can hear the swoosh of its wing beats.

Robin

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I was standing in the misty stillness of the woods by the river this morning when this little beauty settled on a twig about 6 feet away. It stayed there while I ever-so-slowly took my camera out of its case and took a few photos.

Dancers at the Straw Bear Festival

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Just got back from the Straw Bear festival in Whittlesey, a gathering based on the day in January when farmers hired their workers for the coming year. There’s traditional(ish) music and dance all around the town, and a chance to share in some light, colour and eccentricity at what can be a grey time of year.
This is the Oompa Loompa dance by the wonderful Gog Magog Molly from Cambridge

Kingfisher by the bridge

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A bright sight on the far bank this morning. He was very noisy, and I heard two calling there yesterday. Fingers crossed they’re carving out a territory between North Bridge and Cotterstock.

Tawny calls

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I took a walk through the forest in the dark to record tawny owls. I had no luck until I was heading back on the track at the edge of the trees with my mic on record and some instinct made me stop. The first calls are female. The answers are male. Amazing sounds..