Nightingale

For at least twenty-five years nightingales have been arriving at this time of year, sitting in this hawthorn tree and singing for a week, and then moving on.

Where they come from and where they go to I could not tell you (they cannot be moving much further north as we are at the limit of nightingale territory).

But they are as steady as the seasons and never miss a year.

The hawthorn tree is on a boundary, so I am not sure if it belongs to me or the farmer.

He burns rubbish under it, and once (several years ago) set fire to the tree by accident.

Only one nightingale sings, although it cannot be the same bird year after year.

You can hear the song in the mornings as well as at dusk.

Sometimes the nightingale sits up in the great chestnut tree, but mostly it sits in this hawthorn tree.