International Dawn Chorus Day
Each year since 1983, the first Sunday in May has been designated International Dawn Chorus Day. This year’s celebration is on May 2, and across the UK people whose gardens attract birds will be encouraged to wake up extra early (shortly after 4am) to hear the dawn chorus from their bedroom windows. Naturalist trusts and birdwatching groups will also be organising early-morning events at key sites across the country. For details, visit www.wildsong. co.ukIDCDevents.html
Thanks to the internet, anybody with a computer can summon up a particular bird song at the click of a button. For a list of links to websites containing bird song samples from around the world, visit
www.math.sunysb.edutonybirdslinks.html
Britain’s top eight songsters are: blackbird, chaffinch, chiffchaff, great tit, robin, starling, thrush and wren. To hear each of these singing, courtesy of the BBC, visit www.bbc.co.uk natureprogrammesradiodawn_chorusdawn_gallery.shtml and click on the bird portraits.