International Dawn Chorus Day is on Sunday, the 5th May 2024 

I woke up at 4:30 this morning and lay in bed listening to the birds as they sang outside the bedroom window and thought how wonderful it must be to have such a glorious chorus every day to be so happy! 

Listening to birdsong is a great way to start the day!

In fact, I’ve been waking up a lot recently at about 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning, and I find I just love lying in bed, listening to the birdsong.  It’s such a lovely start to the day!   OK, sometimes I do drift off back to sleep, but the birdsong is both soothing and motivating at the same time – I let my mood take me where it feels.  It’s a wonderful way to empty your head of everything and just listen to our feathered friends.  I find it very therapeutic.

Sunday, the 5th May is International Dawn Chorus Day

Anyway, the first Sunday of May is International Dawn Chorus Day.  Would you believe that the event started out in the 1980s in Birmingham and now, people in over 80 countries take part!

It’s a worldwide celebration of the dawn chorus and people all over the world will be waking up in time to put the kettle on and just listen to our beautiful birds, whilst sipping a cup of tea, or perhaps they’ll just lie in bed and listen.

You can listen to the life outside chatting away, and singing a song, and ask yourself, What is it that makes birds so cheerful at this time of the morning??   And who am I listening to?

The Wildlife Trusts's website has help on identifying bird song (such as the blackbird and robin, the chiffchaff and the blue tit), and you can actually listen to a number of birds so that you know what to listen out for if you want to pick up the sound of a particular species. 

The Wildlife Trusts have events taking place in many different areas.  There are 46 Trusts in the UK, and you can find your local Trust here.

The RSPB also has a number of events - take a look at them here.

Take part – just listen to birdsong!

All you have to do to take part is listen!  Who might you hear? The song thrush, the blackbird, or robin or blackcap or chiffchaff?  You could record some of the song on your phone and then play it back to see if you can recognise any of the sounds, using the Trust's website to help you.  If you're listening outside, don't forget that it can still be chilly in May in the early mornings so a coat and a hot brew could be handy...

Fly off here to the Wildlife Trusts’ website to hear some great birdsong!

By the way, if you want to try your hand at birdwatching through binoculars to see who you can spot and what they're doing, the RSPB has a guide to buying binoculars which hopefully will help you if you're just starting out.   

Also, did you know that there are some wonderful videos you can listen to on You Tube for bird song?   I personally found this one very relaxing (I didn't listen to all of it because I nodded off, but it was very enjoyable to listen to and a nice change from the radio or TV).