The rural village of Barford St Martin is showing its wild side on Sunday, 4th June when it invites people of all ages to attend an early morning walk to learn how to recognise the glorious songs of local wild birds that inhabit the fields and woodland of this beautiful area.

This rare opportunity to attend the wild bird walks is being led by Peter Thompson, a local wildlife expert and chairman of the Salisbury and District Natural History Society. Attendees will be helped to tune in to hear and gather tips on how to recognise the different songs of individual birds such as the song thrush, blackcap, whitethroat, skylark and greenfinch.

Peter explains: “The song thrush, for example, has a very distinctive song. Their song is loud and very clear which they repeat two or three times and then they start again but repeating a different phrase two or three times.”

Simple pointers like this gleaned on Peter’s walk will give attendees the confidence to recognise the tunes of individual birds.

Barford St Martin is fortunate to have a remarkedly wide variety of bird species living in the woods and the surrounding fields of the village. Attendees are likely to hear and see spectacular red kites, buzzards and ravens as well as some of the more familiar birds of the area such as skylark. blackbirds and yellowhammer, which has the very distinctive song ‘a little bit of bread and not cheese’.

To attend the walk, all you need are your ears, binoculars (if possible) and sensible shoes. Attendees on the bird song walk are invited to meet in the Barford Inn car park at 7.00am on Sunday, 4th June. The walk will finish at 9.00am and costs £10 to attend.

It is advisable to book in advance as places are limited. To book a place, please call Stephanie Wheatley on 07840 617512

This event is organised by the Barford St Martin Community Fund which is raising funds towards the conversion of an existing building into a community space for village residents.