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Have you ever stopped to think what the world would sound like without human noise? I was listening to a podcast about filming in the Antarctic recently, that mentioned that this truly remote wilderness is one of the few places that one can experience that phenomenon these days. It os free from overflying aircraft or distant road noise, with no neighbours but Adelie penguins. Of course, this is a far cry from our gardens here in the UK, but I do believe that there are moments when we can catch an audible snapshot of this, albeit perhaps few and far between. I also think that at certain times of year we are more attuned to this than at others – maybe that’s just me!

Following the summer and breeding months, our birds go quiet as they protect their growing young and then themselves, as they eventually moult, growing a completely new set of feathers to see them through the rigours of another year. As autumn gears up, they begin to call again, and I find myself listening out for their song. To me, the Robin sounds a little more melancholy than in spring, but with spring-length days around the equinox, we also hear birds like Chiffchaff calling again before they migrate south.

A little later, there’s also an influx of winter visitors, which bring their own sounds to break up the songs we’re familiar with. The cackling call of the Fieldfares is the loudest of the thrushes, while on evenings out for Halloween or Bonfire Night, you might find a quiet moment to listen to the sky for the ‘tseep’ of incoming Redwing on passage from Scandinavia.

Skeins of geese are also a welcome sight for many in the autumn months, and these are often accompanied by a honking call as they navigate to their wintering grounds. I sometimes hear them before I see them, and anywhere with aggregations of ducks becomes a feast for the ears as species gather with varying calls: the squeaking of Teal, the whistling of Wigeon and high-pitched croaks of Pintail mingle with more regular quacks of Mallard and Pochard. It can be a challenge to pick them apart from one another.

It has been proven that it is beneficial to our health to spend more time outside, and we are being told that mindfulness is a good tool. Perhaps, as well as getting to know the birds on our local patch by sight, we should also get to know them by sound alone. If you shut your eyes in your garden or local park, even for a few seconds, would you be able to identify what species were around you just by listening? Autumn is the perfect time to give it a try, while the birds are beginning to sing again, and you might just hear more than you bargained for if some of our winter visitors fly past. We certainly shouldn’t have to go all the way to Antarctica to listen to nature.

If you want to learn birdsong, we have a selection of garden birdsong in our Bird Library. There are some great resources online to help too.  Xeno Canto has multiple recordings of birds (and other creatures) from all over the world, which you can search by species or location. There is also a great website called British Birdsongs where you can search by species using pictures and listen to all call types made by that bird.