I’m not impressed by its brief, rather hesitant phrases – the song thrush is the star of the show It is four in the morning and, to paraphrase the old country song, a new day is dawning. On cue, I’m ...

Every year the first blackbird feels more poignant, its notes pregnant with nostalgia. By Helen Macdonald It’s early March. Forty-five minutes before dawn, a red-legged partridge in the field behind ...