Wild Garlic foam

It was International Dawn Chorus day, so I was up just after five, and spent some time in the garden listening to an avian symphony whose key players were blackbird, wren and blackcap, with a supporting cast of wood pigeons. As a bonus, there was a beautiful sunrise.

After a cup of coffee I headed out to Thorpe Wood to do the fourth breeding bird transect of the year. The brilliant dawn had faded into a heavily overcast morning, and now that the canopy is closed, the wood was very gloomy. But the Wild Garlic looked beautiful, and the low light levels were ideal for a bit of experimentation with in-camera movement.

The variety of birds was surprisingly good, and I had excellent views of my first treecreepers of the year from the site. I was recording a particularly loud blackcap and wren, when I also heard my first cuckoo of the year. A great surprise, as I'd never heard one before at Thorpe Wood, despite having surveyed it regularly for many years. 

The rest of the day was generally quiet - after my early start I had to have a short afternoon map!