Common Whitethroat scratching incessantly

We’re in Oxfordshire house-sitting for my friends. The weather is stunning and there’s a dizzying number of places here we can sit outside and eat around the house. The veranda? The balcony? The decking? By the raised beds? Or shall we eat indoors this evening?

The garden is enclosed with high, well-established, trees and bushes. Along the top of them is a bird with an incessant scratchy song. It’s there from early morning, scratching away. It’s there into the evening, hop-flying along to the next perch on his territory, still singing.

He must be exhausted. Doesn’t he get bored? Perhaps not. I’ve yet to see him with a mate, so survival is at stake. Common Whitethroat are likely to live just two years after reaching breeding age after a year. This could be his last ever chance to have a family.

Here he is, singing his scratchy song:

Perky, isn’t he?

I suspect that even when he finds a mate he’ll still continue singing.

I lie in bed at night trying to forget his song. It’s the soundtrack to our time here.