Feeling Chirpy with the Birds 

writes Diana Luke:

Have you ever noticed how good you feel when you hear a blackbird singing at sunset or the joy of seeing a woodpecker dining next to the longtail tits on your bird station?

It’s something that has always brought me joy, from growing up in Canada with the chickadees, cardinals, hummingbirds and blue jays to being here since the 70s enjoying the British birdlife.

And did you know that there is now scientific proof that seeing or hearing birds can uplift your mental wellbeing by up to eight hours!

I often go to my tin tent on weekends to relish a change of pace from home life and there I am met by the resident peacock -  Percy who joins us many an evening for his tea. Recently a female pheasant also comes for some peanuts and Percy politely allows the more cautious bird to partake in succession with him.

At sunset, a particularly wonderful time for me, the heron in their prehistoric splendour glide silently back to their roost nearby and the starlings create swirling waves in their hypnotic dance of the murmuration across the sky.

Last spring a nest of eggs on the ground was lifted away from the foxes by my partner Tim and we had the great delight of watching the video as each robin was fed by Mum and eventually flew off to independence.

I have a garden mirror behind my large Buddha to reflect in the bonfire light and a male pheasant walked up and admired himself and repeatedly went behind the mirror to find his new friend. That was a good twenty minutes of comedy.

Walking down the side of the river allows glimpses of the kingfisher in a blur of blue as it dips in for a fish and a black cormorant skims across the surface of the water. 

The other year I watched transfixed as  parent swans were teaching their ungainly cygnets to take off and land on the water with much wing flapping noise and splashing.

Once I saw a barn owl from across the field come all the way up to me hovering a few feet above me with the same curiosity I shared with it. A magical moment.

When I take these bird watching walks, I find such a sense of peace and moments of awe and I find myself smiling a lot.

Maybe it’s the mindfulness of being in the present moment, breathing in the fresh clean air, the escape from the business of everyday life or just simply being at one with nature that make me feel so good.

And now we have the scientific evidence that bird watching can help alleviate depression and uplift our mental wellbeing. By up to eight hours!

I wonder what joys of bird watching I will experience today. Hope you do too.  

Diana