For the fourth year in a row, it has been my pleasure to lead groups of six to ten people on the Farm’s free monthly Birdsong Identification Walks. Walks run from March to June inclusive. This year there were a few walks with inclement weather that meant counts were lower than expected. But overall, the total count was slightly higher than last year: nearly 40 species seen or heard across all four Walks. We also confirmed one new breeding species on two Walks (independently verified by David Notton, a very skilled volunteer who also surveys the Farm’s insect life regularly).

That species is the Sedge Warbler, now nesting in the rushes that grow around the largest pond on the property. Seeing them is much harder than hearing them. They keep low to the swampy ground, which they favour for nesting. But the birdsong app Merlin is very good at picking up the song, even hundreds of meters away. The males sing incessantly (sometimes starting a new song every 10 to 15 seconds!) throughout the day, and also after dusk and before dawn. The RSPB website has a recording of their varied, off-beat song:

Click here to go to RSPB Sedge Warbler Bird page to play the call

While the species is not rare in Scotland, the birds are often overlooked because they nest in wet ground, and their song can sound more like an insect than a bird. If you are patient, you can see the small adult males flying short, flappy flights over their wetland, with their mottled brown and white plumage, singing all the while!

Again this year, it was heartening to see both Swallows and House Martins as a sign of a healthy farm landscape.

Plans for 2026

We plan to repeat the survey in 2026. Watch for the Newsletter notification, about next February, of the four dates in March through April when next spring’s Birdsong Identification Walks will take place. But be aware that they start early, in order not to miss songs that are loudest and most frequent near dawn!

The Results in Detail

If you would like to see the data, here are the recording sheets for each of the 2025 walks…

Click here to see the March 2025 tally sheet

Click here to see the April 2025 tally sheet

Click here to see the May 2025 tally sheet

Click here to see the June 2025 tally sheet

Edinburgh Agroecology Co-op would like to say thank you again to John Frank for leading the birdsong survey walks. The survey count is vital information for us to assess the impact of our work, and plan for the future. As well as telling us about the birds themselves, these counts also give us an indication of the health of the whole ecosystem at the farm. Along with our other surveys, we can use this information to understand who is here and what they need, and who else could be here if we put the right support in place. We can also begin to track the impact of our farming activity.

Farming means negotiating with the other species on the land. In many places, this has become a ‘zero sum game’, with the other species taking all the losses (though with this approach, we all lose in the end). Here at Lauriston Agroecology Farm, we know that in 2025, the birds will have been disturbed by some of our activities (eg. expanding food production into the middle field) but also increasingly benefit from the hedgerow and wildflower plants, and more varied grassland. They will do better still if we can get more ponds established and open up the culverted burn – we continue to seek funding for this work. We’re looking for mutual benefits, and long-term peaceful cohabitation with the birds.