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June 2023 June 2023
WILD WOODBURY

International dawn chorus day, a time to set the alarm clocks for before first light
and head out to appreciate the birdsong in a place of your choice, is a great
excuse to get out nice and early and have a relaxing time immersed in the trills,
whistles, and rattles of birds. The Swedish call this ‘gökotta’, which literally
translates to “to rise at dawn in order to go out and listen to the birds sing”, which I
have always enjoyed using to
describe this activity. I marked this
occasion at Wild Woodbury by
leading a dawn chorus walk across
several fields, giving people the
chance to come and learn about
the recovery of birds on site and
enjoy their songs on a gentle walk.
The forecast drizzle thankfully didn’t
materialise, and we had a lovely
couple of hours taking in several

singing species across the fields. From your
more common birds such as Wren, Robin
and Blackbird, to the ‘little bit of bread and
no cheeeese’ of the Yellowhammer, and
the scratchy notes of the Common
Whitethroat, the birds certainly put on a
show for us. We even picked up the long
song of the Garden Warbler, the first time it
had been recorded on site this year. I am
very much hoping to do more of these
walks in the coming months, so do keep an
eye out on the DWT Events page if you are
interested.
For those of you that walk the footpath
along Wild Woodbury, bordering the cress-
beds, you may have seen a series of signs
appear just inside the field boundary. This
‘It’s Not a Weed’ trail sets out to inform why species that are commonly seen as
weeds (in this case, Ragwort, Nettles, Thistles, and Dandelions) are incredibly
important for invertebrates, birds, soil health, and, if foraged in the correct way,
mostly edible. The pupils from Bere Regis Primary School created the artwork for
this trail, which can be seen on all the signs along the footpath.

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