One Day a Thousand Songs

John Miller is a passionate countryman, naturalist and lifelong observer of the British countryside. Raised in a small Oxfordshire village, he spent his childhood exploring the fields and woods, developing a deep, enduring connection with nature.He serves on the boards of the Atlantic Salmon Trust and Curlew Action and is an advocate for the introduction of a GCSE in Natural History.Through his books and essays (he is an ambassador of Conservation Communication) John encourages readers to reconnect with the natural world by observing, questioning, and cultivating curiosity.Today he cultivates his wildlife-rich garden in Wiltshire and is a passionate flyfisher.

• Part ONE 7Dawn – The Morning Fanfare 9 Part Two 58Midday Siesta 59How to Attract Birds to a Garden 62More Birds Sing 68Afternoon Tea 73More Birds 74Dusk Settling in for the Evening 85More Birds 88Night Hunters 95 Part Three 99Round-up of the Day What did we find? 100The No-shows 100The Surprise Appearances 103Tally of my Garden Birds 6 May 104 Part Four 106My Garden Nesting Round-up 2025 107Tally of my Garden Nests 2025 108Siting Nest Boxes 112New Nests vs Old Nests 113Spotted Flycatchers and their Nests 117 Part Five 127The Inconvenient Truths 128Bottom-up Conservation 129The Dangers of Apex Predator Introduction 129Red-listed UK Birds 135Inconvenient Truth No. 1You Need a Chemical-free Garden 136How to Mow for Wildlife 138Organic Vegetable Growing 140Inconvenient Truth No. 2The Disturbance our Pets Cause 141Inconvenient Truth No. 3Predator Control 143How it all Began for me Keeping Hens 147 PART SIX 154Making the Garden Wildlife Friendly 155Why Rewilding Can’t Solve the Problem 157Plant with a Purpose 158Six Early Spring Insect-friendly Plants 159Grow Your own Birdseed 165The Power of a Compost Heap 170 Epilogue: Why I Wrote this Book 177Index 190

John's beautiful new book, One Day, A Thousand Songs, follows a single spring day in his Wiltshire garden – from the first robin at 4.35am to a tawny owl at 9.23pm.Across that day, he brings each visiting bird briefly to life: their nests, eggs, rivalries, near-misses and small triumphs. It's intimate, factual and quietly dramatic – the wild world most people already have just outside their door.