Green And Pleasant

It's all looking pleasantly green out there, as it has every right to be after all the showery days we've had recently. But spring continues to toddle along its way, making steady progress if not exactly leaping and skipping across the land. 

We're in the vicinity of the tiny village of Diddington, in order to walk the fields and lanes hereabouts and chart the season's gentle progress. 

You might be forgiven for thinking that all is unchanging and peaceful around here, but in reality the fate of these meadows is in the hands of three distinct forces - agriculture, quarrying and conservation. Most of the farming land is given over to grazing sheep and cattle.

Slowly, slowly, field by field, the quarrying company are taking over more land and extracting sand and gravel for building.

And when they are done with it, the pits are turned into an ever-expanding nature reserve. There's a lot of political bargaining and posturing going on behind the scenes I'm sure, but today let us just enjoy the scenery and wildlife that we encounter on our wanderings.

Every English village used to have at least one pond and in all likelihood two or three. They provided drinking water for livestock as well as water for local industries such as the blacksmith's shop. They were such an important resource that there were strict laws to ensure their upkeep, though gradually, as they became of little importance, ponds deteriorated and became choked with vegetation. It's unusual to find one as pristine as this.

The land around here, although officially belonging to a company, is really in the hands of a single family. They seem to be farming in a fairly low-impact way and many birds choose to inhabit the trees and hedgerows - which is, of course, why we're here.

Sheep and lambs dot the fields and we can hear, but never see, a Cuckoo.

The area is well-supplied with footpaths - that's a footpath sign, pointing both ways, at the end of the track. There are plenty of common wildflowers in the hedge-bottoms and alongside every path.

These Stitchwort flowers contrasted boldly with the rich green background. It's one of those plants that's said to be edible in salads, but it must take forever to collect enough of the tiny leaves and flowers. Besides, picking them is said to bring on thunderstorms, so best to leave it where it is.

See, no sign of any thunderstorms so the old folklore must be true!

But this is where we're heading. Now it may not look like particularly enticing scenery to you and I, but the birds think otherwise. It's an access road leading down to the waterworks. It doesn't go anywhere else, so there's only a very occasional vehicle coming this way. Only local people seem to know about its treasures.

When the road was needed, the water company, as is often the way with publicly-funded bodies, bought more land than they actually needed. At least that's my theory why there's so much scrubby unkempt land around here. Sedge Warblers were singing their little hearts out all along here. They are courageous, energetic souls and as soon as they've flown in from Africa  they commence their boisterous songs. They start off singing from cover, but soon throw caution to the wind and take to open perches, occasionally launching themselves into the air when they can contain their passion no longer.

Up in the tree-tops you might identify the beautiful varied song of the Garden Warbler, a plain little bird whose main distinguishing feature is a lack of any distinguishing features. You can't see it? Neither could we!

Delicate spring blossoms may conjure up images of warm sunny evenings filled with romantic birdsong; but we're on the lookout for something very different, as are our most celebrated songsters when they arrive for the summer. Something like this....

....thorny, impenetrable thickets. And out of the dense tangle comes the sweet song of the Nightingale. It wasn't always like this - a hundred years or so ago Nightingales could be heard in orchards and gardens across southern England. 

In 1924 the 'cellist, Beatrice Harrison, was practicing in her Surrey garden when she became aware of a Nightingale duetting with her instrument. The BBC were contacted and it so happened that they had just acquired some "state-of-the-art" equipment (for 1924!) and jumped at the chance to try it out. The broadcast of bird and 'cello making music together became an unexpected sensation and in 1927 four tunes were recorded by HMV and released on 78 rpm records. Would you like to hear one?

Beatrice Harrison was a well-respected classical musician of the time, but it's these recordings of her being upstaged by a bird for which she is remembered.

We stood for a long time, entranced by the songs, but unable to glimpse the birds, before wandering back to Diddington.

"We hope that you've enjoyed your visit".

We haven't had a bird-list lately, so here you go:

Diddington          03/05/2023

Distance walked:  5.2 miles

Birds seen: Wood Pigeon, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Nightingale (heard), Cuckoo (heard), Green Woodpecker (heard), Black-Headed Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Common Tern, Swallow, Reed Bunting, Linnet, Starling, Mute Swan, Egyptian Goose, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Cormorant, Red Kite, Hobby, Kestrel.

Take care