Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

This morning I stood for a few minutes at the bottom of the garden near trees and undergrowth along the railway embankment.  There was a cacaphony of bird song - possibly provoked by my mere presence.  I opened up the Merlin app on my telephone and in five minutes it claimed to hear the following nine species:

  1. European robin
  2. Great tit
  3. Eurasian wren
  4. Eurasian jay
  5. Cetti's warbler
  6. Song thrush
  7. Eurasian blackcap
  8. Eurasian blue tit
  9. European gold finch

I didn't see any of these birds although I did see a magpie which was uncharacteristically quiet.

The fact that the Merlin app was developed in the USA and aims at a wide range of species explains why "European" and "Eurasian" qualifies some familiar names.  Personally, I have never heard of a Cetti's warbler but, sure enough, according to the RSPB, it is a real possibility.

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I downloaded the Merlin App too Dick, really useful to work out what I am listening too!

That's quite a crop of birdsong in one 'hit'. 

I have the ChirpOMatic app (just because I love the name!) and it's good. It identified a Cetti's warbler at Walthamstow marshes this suumer and, like you, I had never heard of it before. 

Merlin is fantastic - it's really helped me learn the songs of  many of the common birds. Apart from Cetti's warbler, I see or hear all of those very often around parks and gardens in the area. I was in Pymmes Park a while ago and it spotted all of these plus reed warbler in the space of two minutes in the reclaimed reed bed.

I can't recommend it enough - sit on a park bench for a few minutes with Merlin running and let it show you what you're hearing

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