Evenings in England in spring

There is a special feeling to an evening walk which is quite different to a walk in the morning. 

The birds are settling down.

Linnets and goldfinches call from the highest branches. Blackcaps start up and are visible before the leaves fully open out. Perhaps they have eaten well and can ease off before settling down to roost. 

Startled birds call out.

Birds are sometimes startled as you walk by because they have already 'come home to roost'. Blackbirds commonly strike up collective alarm calls in the undergrowth, warning of an owl or a crow in the ivy close to their nests.

There is less noise from humans. 

Many people are having tea, there are few walkers and the tree cutting is over, though the tractors and ploughs may still be in the fields. Woods have a special quality of silence.

Sound carries further on a still evening. 

You can sense the shape of the valleys from the resonating calls and sounds which echo across a wooded valley. Later in the season, the leaves will block more of the sounds. 

Birds are paired up.

If you see one green woodpecker you are likely to see two. Jackdaws fly in pairs, yellowhammers retreat along hedgerows in pairs.

The colours are intense

Blue sky takes on pastel shades and deepens the blues. Fresh leaves are bright green. Yellows stand out in the setting sun.

Most of all there is a mood.

It may reflect what has happened to you during the day, you may pick up sadness in the fluty song of a blackbird, or hope in the chortling song of a pair of linnets.
I'll be exploring a mindful evening walk on Saturday starting at 6pm.