Back at last ... the song of the angel

A late Easter bodes well for country walks serenaded by iconic birds arriving fresh from African wintering grounds.

- Stuart Winter

Bickering swallows dogfighting overhead, distant cuckoos calling their names and nightingales declaring the simple joy of being alive are there to behold in these final days of April.

One songster I hope will hang around to charm our family walks is a nondescript but angel-voiced warbler that delights in probably more vernacular names than any British bird.

Over the centuries, the willow warbler has gathered a host of bucolic nicknames with the same zeal with which it collects its nesting material.