Birdsong proves popular on UK radio

Christopher Hope, The Telegraph 5 Feb 08;

"It is a lot more enjoyable than some of the rubbish on air these days"

A radio station has an unexpected hit on its hands after broadcasting birdsong for 18 hours every day.

The relaxing, rural recording is proving particularly popular with urbanites hankering after a taste of the countryside and is attracting tens of thousands of listeners.

It has also sparked a flood of internet chatter as twitchers try to identify the birds on the tape.

One listener, Steve Jones, claims to have identified 12 types including great-tits, greenfinches, wrens, swallows and flycatchers.

"I'm sure there must be more. It's one hell of a garden," he said.

Another listener said: "It is a lot more enjoyable than some of the rubbish on air these days - and definitely better than debate or phone-in shows full of 'oiks' shouting at each other."

The uninterrupted recording is being played by Digital One, which runs Britain's commercial digital radio network, on the frequency that used to be OneWord, a spoken word commercial channel which shut down last month.

It was originally made in the Wiltshire garden of Digital One's chairman Quentin Howard in the spring of 1992 and has been broadcast several times previously when it also picked up a loyal fan base.

It was first heard as a "filler" on Classic FM's frequency in the weeks before the station launched 16 years ago.

The twittering noises were last played three years ago. Listeners complained when they were taken off air in June 2005.

The idyllic birdsong is punctuated occasionally by sharp cracking noises which many listeners initially mistook for gunshots.

In fact, they are the sound of wood cracking in the Autumn sun.

Mr Howard said: "Some of the bangs are in fact planks of wooden cladding on the side of a building expanding in the early morning sun."

He warned as soon as Digital One has sold the unused channel to another broadcaster the birds will go silent once more and he is fully anticipating uproar.

Mr Howard said: "Last time we had phone calls and letters of complaint. I’m afraid we can’t say how long it will be there."

He said he was open to offers from birdwatchers to maintain the service but they would have to raise the estimated £1 million a year cost of running a digital channel.

Even if that was raised the birdsong would have make to way for adverts for sofas and mobile telephones every six minutes to be commercially viable.

Mr Howard declined to say if the birdsong was an 18 hour recording or looped every 10 minutes - "That would spoil the magic," he said. For the moment those who enjoy the sound of the countryside are jubilant.

Listener Garan Dallimore said: "Birdsong is back! How have I managed without this for the last three years?"

Bill O'Reilly, another listener, said: "It's better than most pop or chart music stations. Hurrah for the birds I say."

Other digital radio listeners were less keen though. One said: "It's not exactly forest wildlife, melodic birdsong and waterfalls, is it? More like annoying crows and random gunshots to make you jump."

Another complained he thought some birds were stuck in his chimney when he first heard it. He said: "It was very confusing, my wife and I had our ears to the walls trying to track down where it was coming from."