A week ago I heard my first chiffchaff of the year and now I'm hearing them every day. It's a great here-comes-spring sound - a rather repetitive song made up of regular 'chiffs' and 'chaffs' with the occasional 'chuff'.
Chiffchaffs like woodland with some tall trees, which they can perch in to sing, but as they nest on the ground they like the shelter afforded them by scrub as well. Filnore is ideal.
Most of them leave Britain to overwinter in the Mediterranean area but come back to breed here.
I love the song when I first hear it at this time of year. I think it's usually the male bird defending his territory and trying to attract a mate, as he hops about amongst the pussy willows snapping up the pollinating insects.
Flowers golden with pollen on a male pussy willow
Follow this link for another excellent video by Paul Dinning.
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