Country diary: a natural amphitheatre allows birds to perform

Knotbury, Staffordshire: A snatch of robin song, the cry of a raven a mile off, and the mating calls of red grouse punctuate an otherwise still, wintry dayAfter the long snow-lined and sunless days, the world seemed suddenly released. The airwaves were full of reports of record temperatures, friends' first sightings of butterflies and pictures of daffodils. Here, however, over the hill from Flash - England's highest village (461m) - there may have been sunshine but the landscape felt locked in winter.The bowl in which Knotbury hamlet lies is a place comprised of three sepia tones. There is the plush suede of old molinia and mat grass, into which are stretched swatches of soft rush and wider patches of brown-black heather. The walled pasture in the bowl bottom adds a single note of primary colour, but even then it's still the wan green of dried herbs. Continue reading...