Put me on a heath and I’m happy.

Put me on a heath, under an unsullied sky as the backdrop to the celestial song-flight of a Wood Lark and my heart is lifted further, up into a warm thrall of wonder.

Put me on a heath, with that Wood Lark’s sweet outpouring of a thousand silvery notes cascading down on to an assemblage of Froize friends and I am lifted higher still, way, way up into another realm.

Many poets have tried to express the beauty of that song. None have come close. It is, to my mind, unrivalled by any other natural sound in the UK. Its lilting, achingly beautiful phrases positively implore you to stop still, cast aside any outside thoughts and simply savour the moment. Heaven knows, the world can be a mad, angst-ridden and deeply worrying place. But the Wood Lark’s melodious, mesmerising message seems to me to say ‘there’s evil and inhumanity aplenty elsewhere, but here, now, on this precious heath with its purple hues shimmering in the sunshine, here are a few moments you can immerse yourself in and simply enjoy’

Enjoy we certainly did. In a bat-like sky dance on broad-based wings and trailing its characteristic stumpy tail, the Wood Lark poured out its heart for us as a precursor to frequent other similar performances throughout our time on the heath. 

Indeed, Wood Lark song ( simply calling it a ‘song’ seems nowhere near adequate, by the way) was the soundtrack to our sun-drenched wander in this heathland heaven. I hope it helped to illustrate the immense value of lowland heath as a biodiverse habitat, and as a stunning landscape feature. Just ponder on this – the UK has about 20 per cent of the remaining lowland heath in the world. Suffolk has lost about 90 per cent of its former share – yes, 90 per cent – lost under the plough and covered by concrete, and so the conservation and hopefully extension of our remaining remnants, surely, is of monumental importance.

While our Wood Larks showered the heath with their irresistible chorus, heathland is not the only habitat they can inhabit. Commercial forestry plantation clear-fell areas afford them an additional home in Suffolk. Not so the Dartford Warbler. This unobtrusive recent county re-colonist exclusively requires a mix of heather, gorse and early growth conifer and birch. So, it is even more of a heathland specialist than the Wood Lark – hence our burning desire to see one! 

We didn’t just see one…there were several that gave fleeting glimpses to all and better views to some. Combine this with good views of characterful Stonechats, scarce Redpolls and acrobatic Siskins to name but a few and our heathland foray – in which we had split into two groups to give better guide-to-Froize-friend ration – was a sheer delight.

We reunited for a quick change-of-scene-and-species visit to a local marsh. An impressive array of wildfowl was examined in depth and a wing-tagged Marsh Harrier – thought to have been ringed and tagged at Haddiscoe in north Suffolk – stealthily drifted past, flushing a ‘wisp’ of several Common Snipe from their water’s edge hiding places.

The appointed hour of 1pm was approaching and our host David was conjuring up a gargantuan and truly memorable lunch for us back at the Froize, my colleagues David Walsh and Harry Read having proved to be invaluable and extremely knowledgeable co-leaders throughout the morning.

Put a plate of food before me, I’m usually happy.

Put a plate of Froize food before me, I’m always happy.

Put a plate of Froize food before me and then share lunchtime with such a companionable gathering of Froize friends as there was this time, I’m ecstatic. 

And very thankful.

John Grant