Chiffchaffs are replacing the cuckoo as the public’s favourite feathered herald of Spring, according to a poll by the Bristol-based nature conservation charity, Avon Wildlife Trust (AWT).
When the charity asked staff, supporters and local wildlife personalities what lets them know Spring has begun, almost half agreed a little bird tells them.
But none followed Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, and letter-writers to The Times in crediting the cuckoo. Instead, most chose the cheery ‘chiff chaff’ sound that gives the chiffchaff its name, followed closely by the ‘teacher, teacher’ calls of great tits and the blossoming of Spring flowers.
“It’s ironic,” says AWT’s Pat Ellingham, who carried out the survey as a fun way to settle the debate about the official start of Spring. “The cuckoo is notorious for pushing other birds out of the way, yet now it is having to make for another. From our results, even smelly wild garlic is a more popular symbol of Springtime.”
Among the people questioned for the poll were Helen Gilks, who runs Bristol’s international acclaimed Nature Picture Library; wildlife broadcaster and book editor Rosamund Kidman Cox; Tim Martin, the editor of the BBC NHU’s longest-running series, Natural World; Tim McGrath, of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, and Harriet Nimmo, the chief executive of the Wildscreen Trust, the charity behind the Wildscreen film festival and the online Noah’s Ark, ARKive.
Tim Martin spoke for many when he said: “I know that Spring is finally here when I walk through the Long Ashton golf course behind my house and hear the first chiffchaffs singing out their repetitive call from amongst the elder and willow bushes. It's always mid March, and it always amazes me that chiffchaffs arrive so much before any other migrants, like swallows, house martins or the willow warblers. Once you know their call you can't miss them - they seem to sing and sing all day long. I'm glad that they're so loud and proud - like spring itself their song is an irrepressible force”.
Pat Ellingham added: “There’s a lot of disagreement about when Spring really starts. The Met Office says 1 March, others say it’s the vernal equinox of March 20/21; others still says it’s when the clocks go forward. But whatever the calendar shows, our survey says Spring is definitely here now; it’s looking very beautiful this year and it’s well worth getting out into the countryside to see, smell and hear it.”
Other Spring signs mentioned by survey participants were great tits in gardens, skylarks over farm fields; the burst of wildflower colour from celandine, primrose, violets and wood anemone; frogspawn turning to tadpoles; slow worms sunning themselves on a garden wall, the emergence of solitary miner bees from their wintry hidey-holes, and the late night giggles of t-shirt clad teens.
For hints on where to see the signs, a list of Avon Wildlife Trust nature reserves and news of the charity’s Spring walks, talks and events, see: www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk or telephone 0117 917 7270.
Story by RSWT