Country diary: a natural amphitheatre allows birds to perform

Knotbury, Staffordshire: A snatch of robin song, the cry of a raven a mile off, and the mating calls of red grouse punctuate an otherwise still, wintry dayAfter the long snow-lined and sunless days, the world seemed suddenly released. The airwaves were full of reports of record temperatures, friends’ first sightings of butterflies and pictures of daffodils. Here, however, over the hill from Flash – England’s highest village (461m) – there may have been sunshine but the la