Nature Features

St Catherine's - or Rozel Woods in St Martin - is one of Jersey's biggest woodland areas.

There's a footpath through the woods and a stream runs through it with stepping stones. It's popular with walkers. There's a reservoir and a meadow.

Listen for these birds (in order of appearance)

Make like you're in the woods at dawn by listening to five minutes of unedited dawn chorus. Recorded before 0600 BST in St Catherine's Wood. Listen out for the birds listed above (in order of appearance):

'Most mature'

Mick Dryden, who chairs the bird section of the Societe Jersiaise, told BBC Radio Jersey:

The Blackcap's song is familiar in Jersey.

"It's probably the most mature area of woodland in Jersey with a decent canopy of trees. Because the island can be fairly windy a lot of the time we do not have much in the way of high canopy trees.

"St Catherine is on the sheltered north east side, so the trees do better here than they would on the west of the island. We attract canopy species here - birds which like to feed up high," he explained.

The woods and the varied habitats are home to important native plants, animals and birds.

Listen to a compilation of highlights from St Catherine's Wood dawn chorus with commentary from Mick Dryden:

Unique to Jersey

They include a bird which is unique to Jersey in the British Isles, the Short-Toed Treecreeper which is common in wooded areas such as St Catherine's.

It's a small bird with a long down-curved bill feeds by running up the underside of branches. Its size and speckled brown colouring makes it hard to see in the trees.

The UK has the Common Treecreeper which is not seen in Jersey.

You will have heard Mick mention the Treecreeper in his commentary. Here it is again, recorded the afternoon before.

Fastest in Europe

The Great Spotted Woodpecker drums to advertise its presence to a potential mate.

Wrens may be small but they're loud. (Tony Wright)

It's believed to be the fastest of all the European woodpeckers in the speed that it drums.

Lesser-seen birds can be heard alongside the more familiar Blackbirds, Robins and Wrens, Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits and Blue Tits, and warblers such as Chiffchaffs.

The song of the Blackcap, arguably one of the sweetest sounds in the woodland, can be heard in St Catherine's Wood. 

Great Tits are common in Jersey (Tony Wright)

Predators and seabirds

There are also predators including Sparrowhawks and Buzzards. A pair of Kestrels have reared young on a ledge down by the reservoir in the past.

As it's near the sea, you can often see and hear Gulls flying overhead. Pheasants and Crows are here too.

And the wet meadow and reservoir are home to Mallards and Moorhens.