Now that our local Blackbirds have finally divided the village into territories, and we no longer have four or five regularly fighting under the apple tree, they’re all reminding each other of who lives where. I love listening to Blackbird song; rich, varied, powerful and regularly the start of the Dawn Chorus. The bird holding territory around our garden has taken to singing from the extension roof outside the bathroom window, so the alarm clock going off at 06:00 is a bit superfluous when I’ve already been awake for an hour.
I’m an evening wildlife-watching person but, at the time of year when the Dawn Chorus is at it’s most prominent, sometimes there’s nothing better than an early start. When I was a little boy and we stopped at my grandparent’s house I would get out of bed when I heard my Grandad getting up for work at 04:30. A short walk later I would be sitting by a small stream that ran along the edge of a local park. Water Voles, Foxes and skeins of geese were all things I didn’t see at other times of the day and I learnt the value of remaining quiet and unobtrusive at the right time of day. This translated itself into regular pre-dawn cycle rides to areas of farmland and woodland close to home where deer, Jays and, on one memorable occasion, a Cuckoo were the reward for this, apparently unusual, behaviour. As International Dawn Chorus Day approaches I’ll be out earlier and earlier; birdwatching, with eyes and ears, and searching for mammals before they hide themselves away for the day. My garden, Choppington Woods and, most excitingly, Lee Moor Farm will all be on the hitlist for the strategy that I ‘discovered’ all those years ago.