International Dawn Chorus Day 1 May 2011
To
celebrate dawn chorus day members of the Wildlife Sound Recording Society
have been out and about at various locations in Britain recording the dawn
chorus. These locations vary from woodland to moorland, coast to reed bed
and also the suburban garden. All the habitats offer the listener a rich
and diverse mixture of sounds. It is not everyones idea of fun getting up
at 4:00am, while it is still dark, travelling to a remote location just
to listen to wildlife waking up! So here we offer you a selection of recordings
that you can listen to in the comfort of your own home, without having to
leave your armchair. The recordings vary in length from just a few minutes
to over an hour, they are unedited; you have it as it really happened, as
if you were there yourself.
The dawn chorus starts about an hour before sunrise. With just a glimmer of light in the sky, the first species to sing are usually members of the thrush family; song thrush, blackbird and robin, (although this will depend on the habitat). These species are the first because it is thought that they have better eye sight in poor light therefore they can start feeding before other species, so they sing first.
It is thought that there are three reasons why birds sing at dawn, firstly; the air is often still and sound travels better, two: birds are not able to feed in poor light, so they sing until it is light enough to start feeding, thirdly; to see who has died overnight, there may be a free territory next door. (Catchpole C.K and Slater P. J. B. 2008 Bird Song Biological Themes and Variations)
We
hope you enjoy the recordings.
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International Dawn Chorus Day |
British Library The Language of Birds |
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Village Dawn Chorus
Location: Wheatley, Oxfordshire Date: 20 March 2011 Start time: 4:30am Duration: 61 minutes
The recording was made from a very small back garden overlooked by two larger ones. The village green and some tall trees are close by. Common garden birds, include robin, blackbird, jackdaw, woodpigeon and wren. © Robbie Elder |
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Seabirds Location: Jubilee Corner – RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire Date: 9 April 2011 Start time: 05:05 Duration: 60 minutes
Species include: Gannet, Kittewake, guillemot and Skylark Equipment: SD 702, pair DPA 4060 in parabolic reflector © David Mellor |
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Seabirds Location: Staple Newk – RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire Date: 9 April 2011 Start time: 07:00 Duration: 60 minutes
Equipment: SD 702, pair DPA 4060 in parabolic reflector © David Mellor |
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Seabirds Location: Staple Newk, RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire Date: 9 April 2011 Start time: 07:00 Duration: 60 minutes
Recorded at the same time as above, but with a pair of binaural microphones. Equipment: Sony MZ1 minidisk , core sound Binaural microphones in a dummy head © David Mellor |
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Dawn at the Rookery
Location: Buzzard Wood, Tiverton, Devon Date: 7 April 2011 Start time: 05:17 Duration: 1h:18min
The small rookery is situated in oak trees on a steep slope leading to a stream in the valley bottom. The woodland floor is a carpet of bluebells. A pair of tawny owls start calling at 6 minutes the first blackbird starts at around 35minutes other species include rook, carrion crow, pheasant, robin, song thrush, mistle thrush, great tit, blue tit, tree creeper and nuthatch. Equipment: Fostex FR2 LE pair Sennheiser ME66 © Paul Pratley |
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