Where is the best European city in which to hear nightingales? It's not the one you might think

City of song - up to 5,000 nightingales spend summer in or around Moscow 

BERLIN is often reckoned to be the best European city to catch up with singing nightingales - but is this true?

Not according to author Yessengali Raushanov who, shortly before his death, in 2021, came up with a robust competitor - Moscow.

In his fascinating book, The Birds Are Our Friends, he writes: "It was May 22.

"On this evening, Muscovites started pouring towards the suburb, parks, squares and woods. They wanted to listen to the nightingale's song.

"Up to 5,000 nightingales are currently registered in Russia's capital city and its adjacent territories.

"People call the last days of May 'nightingale evenings'.

"All the newspapers, magazines, radio and TV announce the nightingale's arrival as an important event and invite everyone to listen to its song.

"Organisations consider this moment a significant cultural event: they allocate special vehicles to transport staff and appoint security guards. It is a good tradition to uphold." 

This fascinating insight from Raushanov is one of many which pull back the curtain on birdlife in Russia and other parts of central and eastern Europe.

The author achieves does this not just through straightforward ornithological narrative but also through his exploration of the place of birds in legend, religion and superstition as captured in poetry and art.

For instance, the discredited belief that swallows hibernate for winter in the bottom of ponds is held dear in some parts of western Ukraine.

Indeed, some swear that, when the water freezes over, if you put your ear to the ice, you can hear the birds twittering underneath.

Don't be in too much of a hurry to scoff!

The author, who writes from a Muslim (and sometimes anti-Christian) perspective, includes in his book a reminder of what a former Bishop of Hereford once pronounced from the pulpit:

"Ladies and Gentleman, the time has come to put an end to all disputes about birds.

"It is nonsense that birds turn into  insects with the onset of  cold weather as well as that they hibernate under the mud of ponds.

"It seems God honoured us to tell you the truth.

"In fact, birds migrate to the moon for the winter. 

"The Lord has given wings to birds. And those that have wings can fly.

"This conversation is over. Stop arguing with each other and await the birds' arrival from the moon in spring."

Whether the Bishop's congregation believed him is not recorded.

Books by authors with foreign names tend not to sell well in Britain, but this title is worthy of the largest possible readership because it sheds so much light on the birding scene, both past and present, in a part of the world with which most of us are unfamiliar.

There are some notable errors - for instance, the chapter on swifts is illustrated with images of swallows - and the translation is sometimes a little wooden. But such is the author's enthusiasm and the quality of his content that any shortcomings are readily overlooked.

In fact, they are almost strengths because they somehow generate a refreshing authenticity.

Only 64 when he died, Raushanov was obviously a remarkable man. 

A native of Kazakhstan, he combined birding with writing poetry and plays. He even managed to translate Shakespeare's Hamlet into Kazakh!

The Birds Are Our Friends which is exquisitely illustrated throughout, must be one of the most refreshingly original books of recent years.

It is published in paperback (£18.99) by entrepreneurial Scottish company Whittles Publishing. www.whittlespublishing.com. 

                                           

        Plenty of birders in central Europe -  but they do things differently

Moscow - summer singing habitat of nightingales (photo: Wikimedia Commons)