dawn chorus

International Dawn Chorus Day is the first Sunday in May. Although there is birdsong at dawn throughout the year, there is less in winter and the beginning of May is when it is thought to be at its peak.

I missed that by a couple of weeks this year but on Saturday morning finding myself awake at 4:15am, I pulled on some warm clothes, made a cup of herbal tea and headed out into the garden for half an hour to listen. We are lucky to live next to woodland with mature trees close by and the dawn chorus here is amazing. The nearby road was quiet and the only sound was birdsong. I didn't see any birds in the half light but there were still plenty of bats swooping through the air. Well worth getting up for.

There are some recordings on the International Dawn Chorus Day website - here.

around here

These are some of my photographs from the taken over the last few days.

This is such a lovely time of year in the countryside. Everything is growing so quickly, the leaves turning the trees green and the wild flowers coming into bloom for a few short weeks and then disappearing for another year.

Sometimes I wish I could press a pause button so that I have more time to enjoy it all.