This Sunday is International Dawn Chorus Day, a time to rise early and celebrate the season’s avian warblers in all their glory
Why bother?
Because, as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) puts it, spring is “nature’s party season” and birdsong offers “a music festival like no other”.
OK then, who’s headlining?
Top of the bill are blackbirds, skylarks, song thrushes and robins as well as lesser-spotted warblers such as cuckoos and nightingales. What you will hear depends to an extent on where you live, though: parkland and garden birds such as Wrens, Starlings, Blue tits, Great tits and Blackcaps are more common in the city, whereas if your own habitat is coastal you might hear a Chough, a Stonechat or a Linnet.
How early is early?
The RSPB recommends setting your alarm for 5am – c’mon, it’s a Sunday morning, what do you have to lose? – and simply poking your head out of the window to listen. If you want to go a step or two further, head down to a local nature reserve where there are all manner of activities planned.
Any in Scotland?
Of course. There will be early morning guide-led events on May 1 at Loch Leven and at Inish Marhes near Newtonmore, then the following day at Mersehead near Kippford in Dumfries and Galloway. Later in the month there are dawn chorus events at Black Devon Wetlands near Alloa (May 4 and May 7), Loch of Kinnordy (May 5), Baron’s Haugh Nature Reserve near Motherwell (May 7), Loch Garten (May 8) and RSPB Loch Lomond (May 14). Naturally there’s a digital offering too in the form of the Dawn Chorus Festival live stream, which will air online from 5am on May 1 and feature live broadcasts from nature reserves across the UK. You can join the conversation on social media as well using the hashtag #DawnChorusDay.
Anything else?
As well as being utterly, jaw-droppingly beautiful, recorded birdsong has been used for everything from helping people study to calming them down – a study at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool used birdsong to reduce anxiety amongst its young patients while Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, one of the world’s busiest, has experimented with playing birdsong in busy departure lounges. One of the universal experiences of lockdown was that it dialled down the traffic noise and consequently dialled up the sound of birds, increasing levels of interest in all things avian and also in ecotherapy, a form of therapy which involves doing activities outdoors in nature. Like rising up early and enjoying some birdsong with a cuppa as the sun comes up.
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