You're walking a muddy track beside a farm on the edge of a vast expanse of flooded land, the water perfectly reflecting a rare January blue sky. From the barns, a heady odour of sweat and dung rises from the cattle within. Across the marshes, swans sail, occasionally taking to the air on heavy, whoomping wingbeats. And from out of the ancient landscape, the eeries cries of cranes rise above tractor and quad bike engine.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.

Recorded by Fergus Collins, presented by Hannah Tribe.

Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sound Escape 152. Listen to the eerie calls of cranes on the Somerset Levels

BBC Countryfile Magazine brings you The Plodcast - a weekly escape to the British countryside with fascinating guests and the wonders of the great outdoors.
Enjoy a new escape into the countryside every Tuesday and wind down with our Sound Escapes on a Friday.
Find out more about us at www.countryfile.com/podcast
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Nature

This week we're relaxing to a delightful piece of writing about nightingales by Dominic Couzens accompanied by the birds themselves – and read by Fergus Collins. Nightingales is from a collection of BBC Countryfile Magazine articles published new book Countryfile: A Year in the Countryside introduced by John Craven and edited by podcast host Fergus Collins.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.

Read by Fergus Collins.

Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sound Escape 166. Relax to a reading about nightingales from a new Countryfile book

Join Plodcast host Fergus and adventurer Phoebe Smith as they take a day-long pilgrimage across the Oxfordshire countryside to explore spring nature - and experience the healing power of walking with purpose. It's a beautiful experience among the skylarks and red kites.

Don't miss Phoebe's fabulous new book about her life-changing experiences while on pilgrimage: Wayfarer: Life, Love and Loss and Britain's Ancient Paths

If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews.

Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.

If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.

Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

243. Embark on a pilgrimage to the River Thames with wild wanderer Phoebe Smith

You're wandering beside a lake in early spring sunlight. A newly arrived chiffchaff sings from nearby willows while the plaintive calls from a scattered flock of Canada geese rise from the lakeside meadows. Celandines and marsh marigolds dance in the fringes.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.

Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe.

Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sound Escape 165. A peaceful meditation among the geese at an ancient Welsh lake

Step out into spring with Plodcast host Fergus for a wander on his local hill to find who's up and about in the wildlife world on this early spring morning. Will we find the much longed for adders and merlins? Join Fergus for a mindful meander through woodland, moor and vale.

If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews.

Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.

If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.

Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

242. A quest to find spring wildlife on Sugar Loaf mountain

You're beside a stream at the bottom of a wooded valley. You're nearing the end of a long walk so you pause to rest. But soon the rushing water whispers spells and ancient charms of such power that time drifts away.

BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.

Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe.

Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sound Escape 152. Listen to the eerie calls of cranes on the Somerset Levels

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