Back in the blogging saddle, encouraged by Dunc, and by the opportunity afforded by the situation we find ourselves in with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, to take notice of what's around us.
Lots of people have commented on the volume of birdsong since we entered the period of restriction of human activity. I'm told that the perceived increase in volume is actually all relative - as human-generated sounds have abated, other sounds, including birdsong, become more salient. In fact, there seems to be some evidence that, on average, birds are quieter at the moment, as they do not have to compete with the cacophony created by cars, planes and other human activities.
Either way, I know that I have been enjoying some fantastic birdsong of late. These days, I live in a 2nd floor apartment in Norwich, with a balcony that is level with the canopy of several mature trees opposite, which means that I have a good 'line of hearing' on the birds. So here is a recording from my apartment at 5am on the 24th April 2020. The dawn chorus is at this point almost at its fullest, with blackbirds and robins really singing their hearts out. But interestingly about half way through, you can also hear a tawny owl's 'kwik' call...a changing of the guard as the night shift gave way. And about 10 minutes after this, the chorus had changed again, with crows, great tits and wood pigeons taking centre stage.
It would be nice to think we can somehow retain this relative quiet once the lockdown has ended... feels to me that quite literally allowing other species to be heard again seems kind of key to addressing many of the issues for our own species...
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