Dawn Chorus

It has been a most wet, cold, and dreary season this past spring. However, the rising sound of birdsong and the bright early mornings and late evenings tell me it is the summer. The song of the blackbird has provided a comfort for me these past weeks when the weather was truly terrible. I am amazed at the beauty of their song and the volume at which they are able to reach. Sitting atop chimneys, walls, or treetops, the blackbird is able to throw its call such that the sounds of the city sink away behind this beautiful singing. On days when it was eerily quiet after a rainfall, the echos of the blackbird call would slink in to provide an ethereal connection with the outside world. This prompted several occasions of throwing on my wellies to walk down the alleyway.

Now we are stretching into summer and I can finally have the windows open without freezing. The birdsong in the morning has changed. We have the laughing gulls, once again nesting on the neighbours chimney. They spend there mornings and evenings swooping in turns. There is also a magpie family clicking away like some prehistoric creatures, but of course bounded in our current timeline. Early morning I hear the wren singing quite profoundly. For such a tiny little thing, it sure knows how to belt out a tune. With all these nests filling up with baby birds, the songs of springtime attraction have changed to nest protection and building family units.

Living in a climate where the weather does not signify the changing of season as much as the mid-Atlantic area in the US where I am from has taught me to look for other cues. While daylight changing has a profound impact, the sounds of aliveness from the many urban birds nesting around my flat has been my spring and summer time keeper. Amidst the anthropogenic noise of the city, its comforting to have bird song reverberate above and beyond it.