I’ve been in the woods early twice this week already as I need to record two ten minute readings of some of my blog posts for the @UrbanTreeFestival starting 16th May.

It has been far harder than I expected and on occasions excruciatingly frustrating.  Each time I’m coming to the end of what I think will be a clean reading, either noisy dog walkers appear talking loudly or a plane flies over or my voice croaks.

Finally this morning I think I’ve done it.  I’m never going to get rid of a few stutters – I just don’t have that level of fluency – but the background of bird song sounds great so it was all worthwhile.  In one part of the recording a particularly loud blackbird is determined to upstage me but I think listeners will enjoy that.

As a private celebration I visit a mini-meadow on a housing estate close to the woods. A plant I think is water dropwort covers this whole area and is flowering. In the carrot family (Apiaceae) and superficially similar to cow parsley, the florets have a rosy tint and quite different strap-shaped leaves on the stems.  I’m not sure which water dropwort this is so I’ll have to come back and check.