Six weeks later – and you can already see signs of rejuvenation

Each year, it’s the sound of spring that truly announces the season’s arrival in Dorset.
As daylight lengthens, the county’s year round residents – robins, blackbirds and wrens – are suddenly joined by migrating visitors returning from warmer climates. Their combined voices build, day by day, and by May, Dorset’s hedgerows, heathlands and woodlands are alive with a full crescendo of birdsong.

Among the easiest songs to recognise is that of the yellowhammer, a familiar sight across Dorset’s farmland. Its bright, sparrow sized form often perches on the top line of a hedge, delivering its famous ditty remembered as ‘a little bit of bread and no cheese’, ending with that long, drawn out ‘chee-e-e-ese’. Once you’ve heard it, both bird and song are unmistakable. Yellowhammers can often be spotted around reserves such as Fontmell Down nature reserve near Shaftesbury and Lorton Meadows in Weymouth.

Another spring favourite is the chiffchaff, one of the earliest migrant warblers to return. True to its name, it repeats its rhythmic ‘chiff chaff, chiff chaff’ from treetops and scrub. You’ll hear chiffchaffs across many Dorset Wildlife Trust reserves, from the ancient woodland of Girdlers Coppice near Sturminster Newton to the mixed habitats of Upton Heath in Corfe Mullen, where their simple, metronomic song is a constant backdrop to spring walks.

From late April, cuckoos begin arriving from Africa, their unmistakable ‘cuck oo’ call carrying beautifully across woodlands, downlands and heathlands They don’t linger – by June, most are already heading south again – so catching their call is one of spring’s fleeting pleasures. Places like Kingcombe Meadows near Dorchester and Upton Heath offer ideal listening spots, with wide, open landscapes where the cuckoo’s voice travels.
Two more birds add richness to Dorset’s spring chorus. The skylark, rising almost vertically into the air while delivering its tumbling, continuous song, is a highlight of open downland reserves such as Fontmell Down.
Meanwhile, the nightjar, a summer visitor to heathlands, brings an otherworldly dusk soundtrack with its distinctive churring call – rarely seen, they are best heard on Tadnoll and Winfrith Heath or Higher Hyde Heath near Wareham on warm May evenings.

Spring in Dorset offers the perfect excuse to step outside – try a coastal path, through a bluebell wood or along a village lane – and simply listen.
To experience the season at its richest, explore one of Dorset Wildlife Trust’s nature reserves: dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk