We have noisy neighbours! However, far from being an annoyance they are very welcome – even if some of them do decide they want to sing all through the night!
Today is International Dawn Chorus Day, held annually on the first Sunday in May. We are all encouraged to rise early and listen to bird song. But if you slept through your alarm, don’t worry – we didn’t!
We made some recordings of our noisy friends from our village in Andalucía to help you celebrate Dawn Chorus Day. To get the full immersive experience, we suggest you grab some headphones and have a listen!
Firstly a gorgeous Common Nightingale. Just listen to those sweet tones! But also wait for the piping notes (‘pew-pew-pew-pew’). Then the immediate return to that distinctive liquid and rapid melody. You may also be able to hear the scratchy warble of the Sardinian Warbler in the background?
Next, the not-very-well-named Melodious Warbler! You can hear lots of clicks, whistles and rapid scratchy notes. If you listen carefully there’s also the distinctive jangling song of a Corn Bunting, the ‘zips‘ of a Zitting Cisticola and some ‘chipping ‘ from the House Sparrows.
We are living through some of the most noise-pollution free dawn choruses for a generation – leave us a comment and let us know what you’ve been hearing!