I usually hear whitethroat before I see them as they often hide away in the hedgerow. They have a very strange "scratchy" type of voice which is quite distinctive so I walk along slowly to find them and keep moving until their voice is louder and then I know that they are not far away. They are funny little secretive birds but I rather like them despite the fact that they are "just brown birds" with a white throat - hence their name.
