Country diary: The call of the wild bird

Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex: I watch as a kestrel 'yikkers' before its mealtime huntCanada geese, wigeon, teal and shovelers are swimming and feeding in the pools. I stand underneath the nearby trees, behind a hedge, the cover allowing me to watch the birds from just a few metres away, and listen to their constant contact calls of soft whistles and honks.Male shovelers are dipping their glistening green heads into the water and sweeping their wide bills from side to side. Two Canada geese act as sentinels, watching warily from raised ground while others feed. Near them, two Egyptian geese - the descendants of escaped birds, now breeding in the wild - are becoming agitated and start to shriek loudly. Thinking it's my presence that's disturbed them, I slink away to the next hide. Continue reading...