I went up to the far end of Southwick Forest last night and a nightingale had arrived where the path past Crossway Hand farm meets the forest track! It wasn’t singing yet, but making the unmistakably loud wheeting and quieter “growling” sounds that help mark its territory.
Every year I’m nervous that none will arrive on “my” patch so it was both a delight and a relief to hear it. The woods were incredibly quiet as I walked happily back in the dark, accompanied by my own soft footsteps and the thinnest of thin new moons.
Hopefully there will soon be nightingales singing closer still, both at Glapthorn and in the first part of the forest above Southwick. I’ll post up a recording as soon as I can.
STOP PRESS! A few calls from a cuckoo by the river this morning too!