Country diary: A gang of linnets, a burst of snipe - these meadows are full of life

Hitchin, Hertfordshire: My first snipe here since last February, zigzagging away then vanishing back into the rushesThe old Lammas meadows are bustling with life, the brambles along the chalk stream rowdy with communal chit-chat. Somewhere in the scrub, a parcel of linnets is unfolding. Earlier in the afternoon they rose from the alders, perhaps a couple of hundred birds, and danced as one over the sedges. Now, the little finches are settling down to roost, filling the bushes with their non-stop twittering. Unseen, but definitely not unheard. Continue reading...