The wood’s quiet calm is shattered by a raucous rasping, ringing from the crowns of the tallest trees. It slices the afternoon’s stillness and makes me jump. I stand, rooted, listening to this bickering from beyond the branches: chastising cries, harsh shrieks, and scratching sounds like the white noise of a radio stuck between stations. Scanning the oaks for the cause of the commotion I spot a single bird. Its stark white rump signalling as it dashes across the clearing with a fluttering, yet purposeful flight. All that uproar from one bird, no bigger than a magpie.
This is often the way with Eurasian jays – sound before sight. The first part of their Latin name, Garrulus glandarius, even means chatty or talkative. And with such harshness of tone, it’s easy…
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The Simple Things (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2022