Country diary: A single discordant voice in the lullaby of birdsong | Sean Wood

Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway: The woodland has come alive with jays, woodpeckers, nuthatches and the rest - but it's the reptilian grey heron that stands outWith six buzzards and a pair of red kites circling over the relatively small stand of trees that I call Badger Town 2 this morning, there is likely to be great competition here for both nesting facilities and food. The wood is a mixed stand of thoughtfully planted larch, pine, oak, birch and beech, surrounded by a frontage of holly, hawthorn and gorse. The whole thing is only 400m x 40m, and I have recently also watched jays, woodpeckers and nuthatches disappear inside to join the 30-strong badger clan.On one wet afternoon recently, at least 500 rooks deserted the fields and took shelter beneath the canopy. It was a dreich day, and as the sun caused a light steam to rise from the treetops, I was privy to the most musical and beautiful forest lullaby, reminiscent of a rainforest. The birds hummed, mewed, chunnered and whispered - a different kind of murmuration - and although there were no howler monkeys, there was the equally discordant call of a single grey heron when the rain stopped. The reptilian predator soon departed, but did stop to snaffle a careless frog in an overnight flood pool. Continue reading...