Singing with nightingales: A musical collaboration like no other, 5 Media

Nightingales are synonymous with their beautiful song, but with populations declining in Britain, fewer people have the privilege of hearing it. That’s why folk musician Sam Lee is inviting listeners deep into the woods, after dark, to experience a unique musical collaboration – before it’s too late.

Most Friday evenings for me revolve around friends and drinking, but tonight I’m embarking on a quest to hear the song of a small, brown bird – in the wild. “They’re a barometer for our emotions,” Sam Lee, folk singer, and environmental campaigner, explains as thirty of us – different nationalities, ages, and stages – eagerly listen perched on homemade benches strewn around a crackling open fire. Although it’s still light, at 7pm, there’s a chill in the air. “Some people feel utter joy, but others grief or melancholy,” he continues.

Sam is talking about England’s increasingly rare nocturnal songster: the nightingale. It’s these plain-looking birds that we’ve come to hear sing with Sam and guests, in a seasonal concert organised by The Nest Collective.

Anticipation of hearing the birds has put a spring in my step all week. The event takes place in a permissive (private with granted access) woodland deep in the Sussex Weald – the largely wooded chunk of land between the chalky escarpments of the North and South Downs in southern England. It’s spring and the bluebells are so prolific my eyes take a while to adjust to the blur of purple. The exact location isn’t widely publicised to protect the fragile ecosystem, so finding it is an adventure and a privilege in itself. On the way, I ask two locals for directions. “Good luck,” they call as I stumble into the woods.

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