Morning Glory
I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t enjoy the sound of bird songs. Nature’s Choral Symphony is celebrated in May with International Dawn Chorus Day- the first Sunday in May. What has been inspiring is that not only have I just discovered this, but something else exciting too, this being the Merlin app to help identify bird sounds recommended by a friend who had commented on my blog.
About a couple of weeks ago, I visited Foxley Woods near East Dereham, Norfolk, well known for its best display of Bluebells in this area. It had been on my visit list for years, and I was determined to walk through and photograph the display for one of my early May posts. The display of Bluebells was stunning, even if the walk to get to them took over half an hour. The walkway was well signposted and took you on a circular walk with signposts, so it was easy to navigate and not get lost.
Having mentioned bird song in my last audio, I thought it would be nice to record some bird sound, which I did in the woods- thinking this 35-second clip would be featured here. However, this is where this blog has a mind of its own and where one step leads to another for more discoveries.
Once home, I searched ‘ birdsong’ on my phone’s internet and discovered that there are mental health benefits to listening to the birds as well as learning about International Dawn Chorus Day. It just happened to be close to the next release of my post. I thought it was perfect timing, why not get up early and record some bird song to feature here.
So, on Saturday, I installed Merlin the Bird Sound app and was all set to identify what birds I have in my area. I know there are many house sparrows- our bushes are alive with them, house martins, bluetits, blackbirds and our faithful collared doves and pigeons.
If you want to find out more about bird songs and why birds sing in the early morning and International Dawn Chorus Day, take a look at the RSPB site here. It explains everything so well.
Having checked the time of sunrise on my weather app, I set the alarm for 05.15, and once it went off, I saw the morning was already light, and thought, am I too late? However, once outside, I realised there were still plenty of birdsong. We have robins, but they like to catch the first light, so I didn’t hear any of them. I was so excited to know we had wrens somewhere outside our front door and a Linnet detected along the Green to the back of us.
I spent several minutes outside, once this audio here had finished and found this a great experience. What initially was an outing to Foxley has led to discovering something else, and this is what I am enjoying the most about writing and recording for this endeavour.
If you would like to discover more about the mental health benefits of listening to birds, I have included some references here.
The Natural History Museum:
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-listening-to-bird-song-can-transform-our-mental-health.html
King’s College London:
Why not get up at dawn for a short walk and try this for yourself. Happy listening!
