And on the fifth day

This is not some kind of Easter or LoTR reference. It's about the Nightingale, which continues to sing lustily from Motorcycle Wood on Wanstead Flats. Being a wholly rounded and sensible person I have of course been attempting to get it on my garden list by virtue of hearing it from one of the turrets of Chateau L. This did not work. The wind, the 'Fun' Fair, the traffic, obsessive power-washing from one of my neighbours, not to mention selfish Robins seemingly everywhere. I was resigned to this unique opportunity passing me by.

Yesterday evening though the stars aligned. The wind dropped, the fair packed up, the boy-racers had disappeared and it being Easter there just seemed to be less traffic on the A12 and A406, the dull hum of both is otherwise a constant backdrop. A local birder popped out and reported it in fine voice. I jumped out of bed and threw open the balcony turret doors! No music, no engines, no helicopters, just a faint "chug chug chug, pew pew pew pew pew pew", then the uprising crescendo. It seemed to reverberate off the walls of nearby houses. I was beside myself. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever add Nightingale to the house list. 490 metres and clear as a bell. Distant yes, but perfectly clear. I am astonished.

You know how in the past I have confessed to liking round numbers? Nightingale is garden tick #99. #98 was as long ago as 2021, that infamous year of lockdown and constant working from home. That year I added five, but that was an exceptional year where there was little else to do. I still can't believe that it ever happened, that we lived through it. What will 100 be? I've had three that I can't count, nocmig records when I was asleep of Quail, Green Sandpiper and Little Grebe. The latter are local and are by far the most likely but require staying up all night which is not really me any longer despite the prize. As such I am still holding out hope for a Nuthatch. That would be epic.