Dawn Song, Spring Equinox

BirdNote^®

Dawn Song, Spring

Written by Frances Wood

This is BirdNote!
One of the magical gifts of birding is to hear the dawn song in spring. As early morning light extinguishes the stars, male birds begin to belt out their songs. Warblers [PAUSE AFTER EACH], sparrows, chickadees, thrushes, finches, wrens, blackbirds, all sing at once. The songsters attempt to lure females into their territory and warn other males away. As the first rays of sunlight fill the trees, even more birds join the symphony.
[REPEAT DAWN SONG, BUILDING TO A FULL BOISTEROUS SOUND]
The awe and majesty of this performance are hard to convey. Here is how the poet, Emily Dickinson, describes the dawn song:

The birds begun at four o’clock—
Their period for dawn—
A music numerous as space
And measureless as noon.

I could not count their force,
Their voices did expend
As brook by brook bestows itself
To magnify the pond.
 
Their witnesses were not,
Except occasional man
In homely industry arrayed
To overtake the morn.

Nor was it for applause
That I could ascertain,
But independent ecstasy
Of Deity and Men.

[MORE DAWN SONG]

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Dawn Chorus (Dawn at Carnation Marsh, WA during April) provided by: Martyn Stewart at Naturesound.org.
Species: Dark-eyed Junco (repeated trilling), Red-breasted Sapsucker (early drumming), Pileated Woodpecker (call),
Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Black-headed Grosbeak
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2010 Tune In to Nature.org               April 2010

ID # 032105dawnKPLU             dickinsone-01-FCr