The lapwing's unearthly sounds fill the fields

Sandy, Bedfordshire: Peewit, teeack, chewit … whatever you call it, it sounds like the ClangersUnearthly sounds have filled the fields lately, breaking frosty silences or cocking a whooping snook at louring skies. The lapwing’s voice is the joker in the pack, shooting up and down the scales like a novice twiddling the knobs on a synthesiser. It does not feel grounded in this landscape of puddles, mud slaked over boots, ragged grass margins, finches giving out throwaway chirrups, and