Country diary: The return of wood warblers here is bittersweet | Mark Cocker

Buxton, Derbyshire: What a fine sight it is to see one throwing its head back in song, especially after a 50-year absence. Yet this is a journey of vulnerabilityThe wood warbler is one of my signature birds, a highlight of schooldays when a pair bred annually in Lightwood five minutes from my house. They were also widespread at other local sites and while we took them in our stride, they were always special too. Seeing the bird was less frequent than hearing its song, which comes down from the high canopy as a hard, brittle repeat note delivered with increased pace and volume, until it swells to a final exhilarating trill.Yet the full impact of the species cannot truly be understood without observing the song's delivery. His head is thrown back. His pink bill is agape and points skywards, often translucent against the sunlight, rather like the brilliant green of the beech leaves, to which he brings an unfathomable synaesthetic effect. His lemon breast is thrust forward and the long wings shiver as the sounds emerge, and with each climactic trill, the bird pauses, his wood is given back to silence, the warbler shifts location, and - way above your head - the song builds again. Continue reading...