It was the most forward hawthorn bush I had seen this year with its snow white blossom almost dazzling in the rarely seen bright sunlight, and then the plants full glory hit me as the sweet scent of its flowers wafted in waves on the light spring breeze bringing back the memories of so many halcyon spring days bathed in the pleasure of this aromatic delight.

I was in this location in search of the now unfortunately rare breeding bird in Oxfordshire the nightingale, alas nightingale was not present although a few years previously they were, and this site reflected other old sites I had visited where the bird was now absent.

My disappointment at failing to locate this great songster of the bird world was forgotten as the rosy pink breast and forehead of a very handsome male linnet sat atop the hawthorn hedge giving quite spectacularly close views, due probably to the bird’s reluctance to move far from its egg brooding mate concealed within.

Yellowhammer pairs were in abundance in their hedgerow territories the male’s gorgeous brilliant yellow matching the oil seed rape flower now in full colour, I am afraid the beautiful flower is rather let down by the somewhat sickening smell it emits causing many folk to experience headaches and blocked nasal passages. Having moved on to a path running beside a stand of timber over shrubs my eye was taken by the movement and srih-srih-srih call notes of a busy band of some eight long-tailed tits these delightful bundles of feather with a disproportionally tiny body to tail ratio are all action, never stopping for long as they work the hedges and trees for food.

Song and mistle thrush along with the melodic blackbird were all busy proclaiming territories through their songs, added to these blackcap, willow warbler, chiffchaff, and garden warbler all contributed to this most pleasant avian refrain.

A bird that has in recent times suffered great losses and is found in only a few Oxfordshire locations is the turtle dove If you would like hear this bird purring away I suggest you take a trip to the village of Buscot and park in the National Trust car park, step outside your car and the chances are you will hear this gentle dove purring away from some nearby chimney stack.

While at this location a pleasant walk to beyond the riverside lock area will likely reward you with sedge and reed warbler and possibly tree sparrow as this is one of our ‘Oxford Ornithological Society Tree Sparrow Project’ sites.