A woodland soundscape

Funny who you meet in the woods sometimes. She didn’t have much to say this morning so we passed on. 
 
It’s easy to walk in beautiful places lost in thought, and forget why you chose to go that way.
 
Birdsong, today in windless conditions. Mostly blackbird, thrush, chaffinch, robin. All duplicated more quietly from 100 yards off, reverberating through the trees. Last autumn’s leaves and beech mast rustling underfoot. A pheasant chooking just once the other side of the wood. Water running in a deep gulley to the right. Further on, two men in conversation in the village below, voices clearly audible but not their words. My name called from behind. An ex-Councillor colleague exchanging news of lockdown before turning down into his garden.
 
Then downhill onto cobbles, a motorbike kicking into life, two stroke, need for a smellyscape? On down to the shore, a gentle sea breeze, the scent of high tide, the sound of a gull and the sight of a cormorant diving.
 
Back home with a happy dog. Oh, and the Courthouse clock is still two minutes fast.