During the working week it can often be a bit difficult to find time to feel close to nature, especially if you're spending large amounts of time commuting daily to your place of work. It is possible though to use this time to your advantage by listening to and learning some of the common birdsong. To help you out BBC Radio 4 have handily created some birdsong sound files which you can listen to on their website, with the ability to download some of them as MP3 files that you can easily take with you on your MP3 player.
If you want to go a step further then it may be that you want to invest in something like Garden Bird Songs and Calls
by Geoff Sample which includes a CD containing 60 minutes worth of recordings of common birdsong. The accompanying book contains details of the recordings, and useful hints on how to interpret what you are hearing and to recognise it when out and about.
The best time of day to put what you are learning into practice is early in the morning, especially as we head towards spring, as this is when many birds are at their most vocal. Listen out as you're walking to the train station and after a bit of practice you may well be able to recognise some of our feather friends by sound alone.
I have the Geoff Sample DVD and book – it’s fantastic. Well worth a look.