Country diary: a stoat sighting is a pleasant interruption

Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex: I was transfixed by birdsong until a furry face caught my attentionIt's quiet on the reserve this early in the morning. Only the cheerful songs of chiffchaff after chiffchaff accompany me in the cold as I walk down the hill. Lining the paths, the blackthorn trees are exploding with billowing clouds of delicate white blossoms.I reach a gate overlooking a field and scan the hedges for any summer migrant birds that have recently arrived or are passing through. Somewhere in the dense trees beside me, a blackcap starts to sing. Every spring, I have to train my ears again and relearn the differences between the songs of the blackcap and garden warbler, but it's still a little too early for garden warblers to have returned. Continue reading...