 | Track 1
It’s 3:40am in an area of oaks - still quite dark. Somewhere in the distance a robin sings so faintly; a woodpigeon, then a redstart nearer and the cries of lambs in nearby fields. A tawny owl sings returning to its daytime roost and several times we hear the croak and squeak of a woodcock passing on its roding flight; and a distant cuckoo. The barks are from a roe deer buck, possibly aware of the recordist in the woods.
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| Track 2
As the cuckoo continues closer, other song thrushes and robins are begining to sing. It’s still too dark to see much, but as the light grows, the chorus swells.
Soon the tangle of themes makes it difficult to distinguish individual voices, though the loud repetitive phrases of the song thrushes tend to cut through, a little louder than other birds, while the rounded fluting of blackbirds bubbles just underneath.
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| Track 3
A great spotted woodpecker begins to drum on a branch nearby - a percussive instrumental theme that has the same function as the vocal songs of the other species. And the first wrens break into their convoluted trilling.
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| Track 4
As a woodpigeon croons nearby, a song thrush and blackbird also begin to sing close-to; and somewhere within the massed voices the ringing chimes of a great tit.
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| Track 5
Now the chorus is reaching its peak, we move out of the trees to a point overlooking the woodland area - a sea of birdsong in a valley echoing with cuckoos.
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| Track 6
Then we move on to an open, scrubby area alongside the woodland, where we can appreciate the full chorus in a softer acoustic. Here the blackbirds are more dominant, with a sibilant topping of wren song hiding the softer languid verses from a yellowhammer. The hoarse crooning of woodpigeons and the explosive crowing of pheasants intersperse the flow of songbirds.
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| Track 7
As daylight grows, other species begin their deliveries: a linnet sings nearby for a while and, woven into the dense texture, are the songs of garden warbler, chaffinch, willow warbler and chiffchaff.
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| Track 8
A goldfinch arrives to sing from the top of a hawthorn briefly and soon afterwards the trills of a greenfinch are heard, leading into the clapped wings of woodpigeons flighting from the trees.
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| Track 9
Once the full chorus has passed and some of the birds have left off singing to feed, we re-enter the woodland with the first of the sun’s rays - an area of mixed conifers and some broad-leaved trees. A robin is singing by the path, with blackbird and mistle thrush a little further off and the high-pitched tweedling songs of goldcrests.
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| Track 10
Further on the bubbling chatter of a garden warbler intertwines with the songs of robin and song thrush. When the thrush goes quiet, there’s space to hear the 2-note see-saw of a chiffchaff and the lilting cascades of a willow warbler.
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| Track 11
The soft piping of a nuthatch carries through the trees, accompanied by distant wren, blackbird, chaffinch, willow warbler and from beyond the wood the cries of lambs and rooks. Later a few sweet verses from a dunnock and the bubbling garden warbler provide a background for the robin’s bitter-sweet bursts.
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| Track 12
One of the wood’s vocal masters, this blackcap may continue its variations for much of the day, if it stays fine; later the garden warbler can be heard between the blackcap’s verses, in contrasting similarity.
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