An early(ish) morning walk with Rosie the cocker spaniel in Crow Nest Wood while Jen and her sister gabbed with their mum. I heard a strange, rasping noise coming from a tree in a garden near the wood. At first, I mistook it for my phone vibrating on silent and tried to take the call. It was a spooky noise. I decided it sounded crow-like, and guessed it to be a young magpie begging for food. But it was only a guess.

In the wood itself, I heard another bird I couldn’t see. It sounded a bit like a song thrush, but more intense somehow. I concluded it was probably a song thrush after all.
I really need to work on my bird-call identification skills.