Dawn Chorus

This rich variety of habitats brings with it a multitude of birdsong and there's not better time to experience it than spring.

Ornithologist and broadcaster Brian Bailey has been enthralled by the dawn chorus since he was a boy; "it's a magical time of day and the song of the birds is like a morning symphony".

For Dawn Chorus Day on BBC Radio Gloucestershire, Brian visited Cherington near Tetbury.

The man-made lake on the outskirts of the village is a favourite bird-watching spot which he first visited more than 50 years ago. 

Brian Bailey

In total he recorded more than 20 species including blackbird, chaffinch, chiffchaff, coot, blue tit, great tit, mallard, moorhen, mute swan, pheasant, robin, song thrush, willow warbler, wren and wood pigeon.

Brian has an infectious enthusiasm for bird watching and has a down-to-earth approach to recognising their song; "Blackbirds will go 'lurkey, lurkey', the wren is the smallest bird with the biggest voice, the great tit says 'teacher, teacher, teacher' while the wood pigeon makes a noise like the bass note percussion." 

But if you're a late-riser, there's a warning from Brian; "Get there early because as the sun begins to appear, the cacophany of sound dies away".

Catch up with Brian's latest rural adventures with Vernon Harwood every Sunday morning from 9am on BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

Cherington Lake

The rural parish of Cherington lies four miles from Tetbury on a plateau at a height of about 500 feet and the land falls gently away to the south.

Cherington lake

The Avening stream is the only natural watercourse in the area and runs westwards through the valley before reaching Cherington pond which was dug in the mid 18th century.

The lake has long been a magnet for sailors and fishermen; the activity of poachers was recorded as long ago as 1876.

An interesting footnote is that Cherington will always be associated with a bird of a different kind.

For many years the village was the home of the late Brian Trubshaw CBE, who captained Concorde 002 on its famous flight from Filton to its test base at RAF Fairford in April 1969.