20 From inside the community Nature Notes A few notes this time about a trio of our smaller birds. The picture here is a chiff chaff, kindly copied to me by Prof. Ted Benton of Colchester Natural History Society. These charming little birds are named after their song and for me a sure sign of spring. They are small warblers who have a distinctive song of just two notes; the highpitched ‘chiff’ and lower-pitched ‘chaff’. They prefer to sing from high in tree tops and can be difficult to spot, but their song is unmistakable. They are not seen in the garden, but I have heard them in Chesterwell Wood, High Woods Country Park, Cymbeline Meadows and many other places. The chiff chaff makes a ball-shaped nest in dense vegetation where they lay about seven white eggs. Historically, they migrate south in the winter to Africa or southern Europe, although in recent years some have chosen to stay in England, particularly in the south-west.
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