Meet the team; what are our favourite songbirds?

This week, we bring you part two of getting to know our little team here at SongBird Survival. We introduce who we are, what makes us tick and the most controversial question of what our favourite songbirds are! This instalment introduces Sue, Sofia and Lisa. Let us know which songbird is your favourite by emailing us at dawn-chorus@songbird-survival.org.uk.

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Sue- CEO

It feels hard to believe that it's almost three years since I took the reins as CEO at SongBird Survival. Time truly does fly, and I'm genuinely thrilled about leading our fantastic team for another year in 2024. I started working in charities over thirty years ago, knowing that it was incredibly important to me that my working life made a positive difference to issues which mattered to me. This has never been truer than in my work at SongBird Survival.

Why I chose this particular role says a lot about what is important to me in my life. I thrive on getting stuck into things, shaking things up, and soaking in the energy that comes with making changes and solving problems. Taking care of our planet matters a lot to me - living on Earth is a privilege.  Nature is my happy place, whether it's the majestic Lake District or the sweeping beauty of North Yorkshire's coast.

Speaking of my home county, I’m a proud Yorkshire woman, accent intact despite a twenty year spell in London. Growing up on the edge of the windswept Pennines instilled in me a love for expansive landscapes and a profound respect for the power of nature. And yes, speaking my mind is second nature – a Yorkshire trait!

I'm also a geologist, having studied Earth Sciences at university – a fact that fills me with pride. It shaped my thinking and sparked a lifelong fascination with the natural world. Today's challenges may seem daunting, but breaking them down with a scientific approach, especially in our work at SBS, can truly make a difference for our songbirds.

A couple more things you might not know about me… for the past 21 years, I've been navigating the whirlwind of motherhood with three amazing daughters. Being a mum is a constant joyous juggle, and it's honed my planning and organisational skills, which come in handy running the charity. I'm also all about learning and trying new things. Never a dull moment, and I rarely get bored – I firmly believe in the adage that you can teach an old dog new tricks, and that's something to embrace. My latest personal challenge is tennis which I’m loving, but so far, I’m still at the stage of being thrilled if the ball actually goes where I want it to! The SBS team is all for trying new things, even if some don't quite pan out first time. We won't make positive changes if we just stand still.

Now, my favourite songbird – a tough question! They all bring me joy, and my favourite changes with every interaction. Lately, it's the goldcrests in the woods behind my house that have caught my attention. Their golden crowns in January's gloom lift my spirits. So, for now, the goldcrest takes the crown as my favourite.

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Sofia- Supporter Care Team

Hello! My name is Sofia, I joined SongBird Survival’s Diss office team in June 2023. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed speaking with our members and supporters, learning so much about songbirds and your love for them. Here, I’d like to say a little about me, my relationship with nature, songbirds and literature.

I grew up in the countryside in South Norfolk; the surrounding woods and wilderness were my garden, Mother Nature my teacher. As a lifelong believer in faeries, I would spend my afternoons writing spells and making potions using the abundance of fallen flower heads, willow buds, feathers and leaves I’d collect on long walks through the Norfolk fields surrounding my home. This love for faery and natural plenty inspired a deep fascination with all of Nature’s creatures; I’d wake up early in Summer to catch the sunrise and birdsong then race off to the stables close by to help muck out and take care of the horses. Still nothing brings me greater joy than the Sublime, from the simple beauty of the sunlight glinting through a woodland canopy, the crashing waves on a Norfolk winter coastline or the fungi abounding in damp plentiful Autumn.

My first love was books, from Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree and Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons onto the Brontës, Zadie Smith and Yrsa Daley-Ward’s Bone. And it is through literature, I come to my favourite songbird. Wilde’s swallow in the Happy Prince fascinated me with tales of migratory travel to Egypt, until I turned the pages of the storybook collection coming to the beautiful tragedy The Nightingale and the Rose. The artistic love, pain and lament symbolised by the Nightingale here left a lasting impression on me as a young reader, something that stayed with me as I traversed Keats, Shakespeare and later Milton and Ovid. Perhaps the Nightingale is an overused trope, a cliché – I can’t say it’s been a favourite before the profusion of jazz renditions of Arden’s ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square’ but its presence in art, literature and music alongside its hauntingly melodious song have, like many before me, drawn me in and utterly swept me off my feet.  

I have to say though, since working at SBS this past 7 months, it is harder and harder to commit to having a singular favourite songbird. I’ve learnt so much - from my colleagues, our supporters and writing our monthly e-news - about the majesty of less canonical songbirds. Out on a walk early in the new year, for example, I was delighted to watch a troupe of long tailed tits hopping along watching for one another. SBS has reminded me to slow down in nature, to stop, look, listen, and see the perceptible changes that so easily go unnoticed in today’s fast moving world.  

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Lisa- Supporter Care Team

Hi, I’m Lisa and I work as part of the Fundraising and Supporter Care team hear at SBS. You will find me in the office here in Norfolk three days a week happily answering your questions and looking to answer your queries.

My role within SBS is rather varied and I seem to have many hats. If I am not dealing with supporter queries or general admin duties, I am busy trying to find creative ways to fundraise or assisting the other members of the team in various projects. Apparently, I am definitely an ideas person!

Within the charity, I guess my passion lies with the next generation. I am eager to inspire children to love not just our beloved songbirds, but to love nature. To notice the world around them and to take an interest in what they see, to realise that there are many benefits to seeing the little things in life and how just being outside is good for the soul. We need this next generation to care about the world around them, so that they want to make a difference. It’s a good feeling when your job allows you to be involved in matters that you feel so strongly about!

Away from work it will be no surprise to you that I enjoy being outside exploring. I love to comb the beach for hidden treasures. My two children have come to realise that hunting for fossils or sea glass are right at the top of my favourite things to do, and thankfully they are quite happy to join in. So, a walk at the beach with me has always been a slow wander, eyes fixed firmly on the ground. Until one bright and sunny day a couple of years ago, when I realised that just by hearing a songbird I knew instantly what it was! For this reason, the skylark will always hold a special place in my heart. I remember that day so clearly. That song seemed to follow me all the way along that beach, my very own chaperone. I spent more time looking upwards that day than I ever have whilst at the beach and yet I could not spot my companion. Too high perhaps, or maybe just looking in the wrong direction? It was like a message to me that day; a little nudge to not only look for the things you love in life, but to look for other less obvious things that you might love just as much.

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The SBS Team

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If you have a species you would like us to cover on #theSBSblog, please contact us at dawn-chorus@songbird-survival.org.uk or our Research and Engagement Manager at charlotte@songbird-survival.org.uk. 

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