style="font-size: larger;" | Animals Of Farthing Wood Character

Name:	Whistler
Species:	Grey Heron Grey Heron The Grey Heron , is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in the milder south and west, but many birds retreat in winter from the ice in colder regions...
Seasons:	1, 2, 3
First Appearance:	Whistler's Quarry (1x09)
Last Appearance:	Bully-Bully-Bully (3x13)
Spouse:	Speedy
Offspring:	Various unnamed chicks

Whistler is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books of the same name by author Colin Dann

Colin Dann

Colin Dann is an English author. He is best known for his The Animals of Farthing Wood series of books, which was subsequently made into an animated series....

. In the TV series he was voiced by Ron Moody

Ron Moody

Ron Moody is an English actor.- Personal life :Moody was born in Tottenham, North London, England, the son of Kate and Bernard Moodnick, a studio executive. His father was of Russian Jewish descent and his mother was a Lithuanian Jew. He is a cousin of director Laurence Moody and actress Clare...

 but in the audio tapes he was voiced by Peter Woodthorpe

Peter Woodthorpe

Peter Woodthorpe was an English film, television and voice actor who is best known for supplying the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of The Lord of the Rings and BBC's 1981 radio serial...

. His name comes from the whistling sound an old bullet wound on his wing makes when he flies. He is also noted for his inability to land properly, often on top of the smaller animals and frequently on Adder.

Personality

His helpful character is shown even before he joins the group, in the episode Whistler's Quarry, when he catches fish for the other animals to eat (although Owl

Owl (Farthing Wood)

Tawny Owl is a fictional character in The Animals of Farthing Wood and its many sequels, written by Colin Dann. Tawny Owl also appeared in the animated children's television series of the same name based upon the books...

 and Adder

Adder (Farthing Wood)

Adder is a fictional character from the novel series The Animals of Farthing Wood, written by Colin Dann. He appeared in all of the sequels in the series. Adder also made appearances in the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books. Adder is, as her...

 see this as showing off). He then saves Toad

Toad (Farthing Wood)

Toad is a fictional character from the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books of the same name by author Colin Dann....

's life when he his caught by a carp. When Toad takes pity on the fish and asks Whistler to throw it back, the heron is surprised and this leads to an explanation of the oath. On hearing about White Deer Park, Whistler joins the journey, in the hope of finding a mate.

After joining the animals on the journey, Whistler is a helpful addition to the group. At the road he carried many of the smaller animals, including Toad and Adder to safety, although he was unable to pick up The Hedgehogs

The Hedgehogs (Farthing Wood)

Mr. Hedgehog, and his wife Mrs. Hedgehog, are fictional characters from the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books of the same name by author Colin Dann....

. In the thunderstorm, Whistler goes back to point the Rabbits and Weasel

Weasel (Farthing Wood)

Weasel is a fictional character from the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books of the same name by author Colin Dann. She is, as her name suggests, a Weasel.-In the TV Series:...

 in the right direction, although the other birds (Kestrel

Kestrel (Farthing Wood)

Kestrel is a fictional character from the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books of the same name by author Colin Dann. She frequently acts as lookout for the others because of her sharp eyes...

 and Owl) have taken refuge in a church tower. He then fishes the rodents and Adder out of an overflowing drain. When the animals are scattered after the episode Pandemonium, Whistler is the one who tries flying over the town to find them, while Owl criticises Fox

Fox (Farthing Wood)

Fox is a fictional character from the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books of the same name by author Colin Dann....

instead. He then suggests the birds go looking for the other animals while the land animals wait where they are.

The other animals have mixed feelings about the noise Whistler makes due to the hole in his wing. Adder and Weasel see it as announcing their approach to humans and other dangers, but the smaller animals, e.g. Mrs. Fieldmouse, find it more reassuring.

White Deer Park

At the Park, Whistler is one of the first animals to find a mate, when he his quickly befriended by the talkative Speedy. She rushes him off to see the pond almost immediately, much to his surprise and the other animals amusement. Speedy then attempts to instruct him on fishing. She is very superior towards Whistler, who she sees as having a disability that will cause him problems when fishing. Whistler soon proves himself more than capable of catching fish without her instruction. He is polite throughout and offers her his first catch. A little while later, she is critical of the Oath and agrees with Adder, who has just eaten an Edible Frog.

Whistler and Speedy are one of the few animals still able to find food as winter continues, at one point offering food to a hungry Badger. Having not forgotten the Oath, Whistler allows Badger to carry as much food as he can to the other meat eaters, something Speedy has trouble understanding. The herons, although distanced from the other animals a lot of the time are also present in welcoming Badger back from the Warden's house. Speedy shows signs of beginning to understand the oath by this point and his keen to look after Kestrel when she is injured by the Warden's cat. However, when poachers kill a deer, she is quick to argue that such an action is not a "Farthing land issue".

Although Whistler is seen as necessary when choosing sentries for the poachers, Owl points out that Speedy must be kept away because she is too loud. Although asked to keep watch, Speedy lives up to Owl's expectations and has to be asked to shut up. Speedy then suggests Whistler and Kestrel do not tell Owl that the emergency raids have been stopped, in response to Owl's "mean and "self-righteous" attitude.

Whistler is one of the first to successfully catch something as winter ends, leading Fox to call a halt to the farm raids.

In the third series, Speedy disappears for most of the series, only returning at the end.