Vernal Equinox - East

BirdNote^®

Vernal Equinox - East

Written by Bob Sundstrom
 
This is BirdNote.
Ahhh, [Carolina Wren habitat] the first day of spring…at last! Let’s step outside and greet the new season. Clearly, the birds know somethin’ is up. Listen to that Carolina Wren belt it out [Carolina Wren song].
The wren doesn’t know the precise instant of the vernal equinox of course. It’s the moment when the sun is directly above the equator, and day and night are nearly equal all over the world. But the wren senses the growing hours of daylight through a surge of hormones, which tell it it’s time to sing [Carolina Wren song].
Both science and folklore tie Spring to the renewal of nature, as the world awakens from the long, cold winter. A Northern Cardinal pours out its liquid notes [Northern Cardinal song]. And, wow! There’s a tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet, flashing its red crown. Listen to its bubbly song [Ruby-crowned Kinglet song]. [Oinking of Virginia Rail] Now there’s a comical sound, coming from the marsh. It’s a Virginia Rail, unseen but hardly unheard, ringing in the new season. [Oinking phrase of Virginia Rail vocalization].
Spring has sprung. The birds declare it official.
[Ruby-crowned Kinglet song]
For BirdNote, I’m Mary McCann.
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Featured bird audio provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Song of the Carolina Wren recorded by T.A. Parker III. Northern Cardinal and Ruby-crowned Kinglet recorded by G.A. Keller. Call of Virginia Rail recorded by W.L Hershberger.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2009 Tune In to Nature.org

ID# vernequinox-03-MM-2009-03-20-