The Dawn Chorus 2022 took place in May. It is now the third round for the citizen science project. During the month of the Dawn Chorus in May, people were asked to record bird songs before and after sunrise. As I had already participated in the previous two years, of course, I will share my recordings of 2022 here on this blog.
The Dawn Chorus
How does a bird concert sound like in New Zealand and Australia? Or in Japan? Or in Brazil or any other country in South America? Africa from north to south and east to west must be another precious place for listening to bird concerts. And what about Europe?
Of course, Europe is another good place for listening to bird concerts.
I just remember the beautiful songs of the Eurasian skylarks in the summer months on the Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin.
Or the songs of the common nightingale. One of the most beautiful sounds in nature I know.
Even a city in Germany like Berlin is a good place for song recordings!
Nevertheless, the Dawn Chorus started in 2020 - during the first phase of the Covid19 pandemic when travel bans and other restrictions forced people to stay at home. In that first year, people were asked to record bird songs before and after sunrise from the 1st to the 31st of May.
Interesting: The idea of the project was developed by a few people after being inspired by the work of Bernie Krause - a bioacoustician and musician. If you want to know more about his work, please have a look at his book.
The idea and the project were very well received by the public. In those last two years, other citizen science projects related to birds became quite popular. Like the bird count 2020 and 2021 in Germany (also known as “Stunde der Gartenvögel and “Stunde der Wintervögel”, respectively). However, in May 2022 the number of participants declined again.
Therefore, I'm very happy to hear that the Dawn Chorus 2022 received more than 10.700 recordings from 33 countries. How special it is to listen to a bird concert of someone who recorded the birds anywhere else on earth. Given the fact that scientist already talk about the 6th mass extinction (please look at the book from Elizabeth Kolbert), it is more than important to record our biodiversity.
Be it birds or any other species.
Why?
In my opinion, the Dawn Chorus is a good way to learn more about all the birds that live around us. It is a good way to learn more about them and to admire their diverse songs. I believe that we need to grow our empathy for all the birds and all the other creatures with whom we share this planet. I think this is as important as gaining knowledge.
This does not sound very scientifically, but I really, really think that the way we treat our planet today can be traced back to the lack of empathy we develop in our societies.
But please don’t get me wrong!
There is of course science in the project!
And this is very, very important!
As a school teacher I have realized that children are impressed and fascinated by all the little or big animals they see. Something I don’t perceive in most adults. And that is why I think it is so important to catch people and win them for birds and any other creature around us.
Birds have the advantage that they often look or sing very beautifully.
Like the whinchat I found on the Tempelhofer Feld.
Information: It takes a lot of time and perseverance to undertake a biodiversity study like the Dawn Chorus. Therefore, I’m more than willing to participate in the Dawn Chorus 2022 to further support the aims of the project. Please visit the website of the Dawn Chorus to get more information about the science behind.
In the next paragraphs I will write more about the birds I have recorded in the Anton-Saefkow park and in the Ernst-Thälmann park.
The Dawn Chorus 2022
Bird songs in the Anton-Saefkow park
Although I had participated already in 2020, I recorded the bird songs in the Anton-Seafkow park only last year for the first time. Therefore, I do not have a comparison to the “silent spring”.
However, as last year, I sat next to the statue in the Anton-Saefkow park.
I had heard and seen in 2021 already a common nightingale.
This year again.
Or to be more precisely, this year I just heard a nightingale and didn't see any.
My first recording was at 4:52 a.m. and I heard the common nightingale from afar. The bird was anywhere hidden in the bushes behind trees. I, thus, just kept sitting next to the statue and listened.
Information: Please note that I did not take photographs from the birds on that day. All the following photographs are from other days or different places, respectively.
Like last year I recorded the bird songs every ten minutes for one minute (4:52 a.m., 5:02 a.m., 5:12 a.m., 5:22 a.m., 5:32 a.m., 5:42 a.m.). It was a Saturday and the sunrise was at 5:25 a.m. It was a cloudless day and later it became sunny and warm.
Although it was at the weekend it was so difficult to get recordings without cars, trams or talking people. I just wanted to listen to the birds. Therefore, all the other sounds appeared to me too loud.
Later, a group of house sparrows came by and were chirping around. Especially in the third recording at 5:12 a.m. I heard them close-by in a tree.
If you have listened to these two recordings, you might have heard another bird.
The Eurasian blackbird.
These birds were almost everywhere.
Hiding in a tree. Digging on the ground. Or just singing at some spot where everyone could listen.
Quite prevalent were also the great tits (on the left) and blue tits (on the right).
Nevertheless, just on the next Wednesday, I went to the Anton-Saefkow park again to record the bird songs on a weekday.
On that day two Eurasian jays visited the place. In one moment they were sitting on a branch in a close-by tree. And in another moment they were just looking around on the ground.
But I was focused on my recordings.
As a comparison, the recording of the bird songs at 4:52 a.m. on a Wednesday.
Do you hear the tram?
Information: If you are interested in listening to all of my recordings, please go to the website of the Dawn Chorus and look for the Anton-Saefkow park in Berlin.
That Wednesday was not such a beautiful day like the previous Saturday. Later, it even started to slightly rain. However, when compared to the previous year, it felt already much warmer at the statute than in 2021. Last year I was freezing.
On that day I actually had another quite interesting observation.
Or maybe observation does not fit very well, as I couldn’t see that special bird.
I could just listen to it.
When I was walking home, I heard this bird anywhere close to a bush.
It was a lesser whitethroat.
What a beautiful sound!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the bird. But still it was so special to have listened to this bird for some moments.
Bird songs in the Ernst-Thälmann park
Just on the next Sunday I continued with my recordings in the Ernst-Thälmann park.
As I have already recorded the bird songs in 2020 - in the phase of the beginning of the pandemic and all the restrictions - of course, I was interested in continuing with my recordings in that park.
I’m especially interested in how the bird sounds will change in the next few years, as there were several construction sites in the park at that moment.
This is also the reason, why I couldn’t sit at my usual place where I had recorded the bird songs in the two previous years.
In general, it felt like a much louder bird concert at the Ernst-Thälmann park when compared to the Anton-Saefkow park.
On that day it was again cloudless, but the sun rose already at 5:11 a.m.
The birds were singing louder - at least it appeared to me - but the close-by street with all the cars and trams as well.
This was my first recording at 4:42 a.m.
And this my second recording at 4:52 a.m.
What do you think about the bird songs in the two different parks?
Two bird species I don’t want to neglect at all are hooded crows (on the left) and common wood-pigeons (on the right) which I both find quite frequently in Berlin.
Just listen to my recordings again. I’m sure that you will hear them in any of the recordings.
I actually planned to record the bird songs again on the following Wednesday in the Ernst-Thälmann park, as the best way to contribute to the Dawn Chorus is by recording the bird songs once at the weekend and once on a weekday. However, as I became sick, I could not continue this year with the recordings.
International Day for Biological Diversity
This year, people were asked to record the bird concerts on Sunday, the 22nd of May, because that day was the International Day for Biological Diversity.
The day was considered as a competition. Meaning, do more people record bird songs in the cities or in rural places?
As I live in Berlin at the moment, of course, I have supported Berlin and recorded bird songs.
Please listen to one of the recordings. I was standing under a tree and listening to a beautiful common nightingale song.
Result: At the end, the countryside won. More people in rural places recorded bird songs on the International Day for Biological Diversity (52:48).
More information
Official website of the Dawn Chorus
The Dawn Chorus 2021
The Dawn Chorus 2024
The Dawn Chorus citizen science project
The great animal orchestra by Bernie Krause
Have you participated in the Dawn Chorus 2022? If yes, which birds have you heard? Please let me know in the comments!
