March Nightingale

I was sure today was going to be a macro blip day. I had shots in the bag of solitary bees on daisies, a tiny spider on a hyacinth, various ladybirds and a froghopper. I was rolling around on the front lawn shooting macro when I heard the very loud, mellifluous, unmistakable song of a blackcap. I hadn't even got my long lens with me, which is very unusual. 

I rushed indoors, grabbed it and located the sound to the quince tree. The male blackcap was partially obscured by twigs and catching the late afternoon rays. It's the first time I have captured one in the garden. The bird is mentioned in my Wonderland book on the 31st March under the heading March Nightingale. This is the title of a poem by John Clare about a boy who hears a blackcap singing and assumes it to be a nightingale. I'm afraid I can't find the poem in print online but this is a reading. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH0rwoaFKrI Scarce a leaf of hawthorn appears here in Essex. The author of my book says, "If the chiffchaff marked the moment when spring is almost here, the blackcap perhaps marks its genuine arrival." :)