Early Spring Songs (SE Alaska)

BirdNote^®

Early Spring Songs
for Alaska (as heard on KTOO in Juneau)

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote! 
[American Dipper song, repeated]
In March, we welcome the lengthening days. As winter’s cold and darkness give way to spring, nothing freshens the new season like the renewal of bird song. [American Dipper song, repeated]
 This month, three groups of birds tune up their musical voices.
First, and among the earliest spring singers, are birds that reside here year round. One such bird is the American Dipper, whose loud, sprightly trills and whistles can be heard along many a mountain stream. [American Dipper song, repeated]
 Second, we hear the early spring voices of birds that stopped over here for the winter, like the sweet, warbled notes of this American Tree Sparrow [American Tree Sparrow song]. The American Tree Sparrow will leave our area for the summer to sing and nest in the northernmost reaches of Alaska’s willow-covered tundra. [American Tree Sparrow song]
 A third group of voices belongs to birds now migrating from farther south. Among the earliest spring arrivals is the American Robin. [American Robin song] Some robins will stay to nest in Southeast Alaska, and others will continue on to the north. [American Robin song] Some will migrate far enough north to join voices with those same American Tree Sparrows, making for a lovely duet [American Robin song and American Tree Sparrow song]
Tune up your ears anytime, when you come to our website, birdnote.org. I’m Frank Corrado.
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Bird audio provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Dipper song recorded by G.A. Keller.  American Tree Sparrow song recorded by G. Vyn.  American Robin song recorded by W.L. Hershberger. 
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2008 Tune In to Nature.org

ID# 2008-03-03-spring-04-KTOO