Dawn Chorus on a Sheep Farm

Have you heard of the Dawn Chorus events that are common in Britain? I certainly hadn’t until recently. They take place in May in bird-friendly habitats such as parks. People gather outdoors in the darkness, listening from the very first birdsong of approaching dawn until the full chorus has begun to sing after sunrise. Sometimes the participants then have breakfast together. It sounds delightful, doesn’t it?

From what I’ve been able to find online, the tradition began in England in the 1980s, spread across the rest of the U.K, then expanded to other parts of Europe as well. There is now an annual International Dawn Chorus Day on the first Sunday of May, and it’s been celebrated in over 80 countries! 

Betsy Stebbins-Anderson searched the internet for indications of International Dawn Chorus Day in the U.S. but didn’t find any. It was time. A family member who was an avid birder had done her own personal Dawn Chorus morning each May for 20 years until the end of her life, and Betsy decided to continue the Dawn Chorus morning here in Ohio.

The location would be on the family’s 186-acre Summerhill sheep farm near Shreve (a little south of Wooster). Betsy had contacted me about being the birdsong guide, and I thought it was an intriguing idea. And yes, there would be an outdoor breakfast for everyone after sunrise. Following breakfast, I would then lead a morning birdsong listening hike through various habitats on the farm. 

Although there was some distant sound from agricultural equipment on a neighboring farm when we arrived, it was still much quieter than most places I try to record. Walking up the hill from the sheep, I noticed that the songs hurled back and forth between the Chipping Sparrows seemed to sparkle! Was I able to hear more of their highest frequencies than usual?  And the Red-winged Blackbird’s screams - always quite bellicose - were even more potent than I would have expected. 

Look at the sonogram: you’ll see the high, steady trills of the Chipping Sparrows and the lower hooked-shaped screams of the Red-winged Blackbird. The latter species has a number of different calls, and I suspect that each one is either a threat or vulgar insult.

The view up on the hill at sunset created a sense of space inside me as well as around me, and I would have liked to have stayed outside well after dark. However, Wendy and I would be getting up at 4 AM - unimaginable for a night person like myself – and ready to communicate with other humans by about 4:30. 

People began to gather even before 5:00, and the earliest arrivals were the ones who heard the first birdsong of pre-dawn. You’re probably thinking it was a Robin, or maybe a Cardinal, but no - it was a Song Sparrow at 4:45. He was followed a 5:02 by a Chipping Sparrow, and only at 5:06 did the first Robin take the stage.
 

 

Soon, more Robins began to sing, followed by Barn Swallows, a Field Sparrow, Killdeer, Northern Cardinals, and a Chickadee. (Although Summerhill Farm is in the overlap zone between Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees, this one was singing the Black-capped song.) 

We quietly walked on the narrow road along the edge of the farm and were soon challenged by the number of bird species beginning their dawn songs. Wendy kept the list as we softly announced the name of each new singer.

Just the Catbird, Tufted Titmouse and House Wren together sounded like a chorus! I'll focus on each one in this track so you can get a better idea of who is singing. The sonogram is primarily the Catbird.

 
Behind the wall of Robin song, I heard a Field Sparrow singing an atypically complex, three-part song that I’ve occasionally heard elsewhere. Later in the morning, this Field Sparrow and any others we heard were singing the expected accelerating trill. Here’s an example of the early morning song.

 

We'd all heard birds at dawn before, but our attentiveness and focused listening enhanced our sense of wonder. The birds revealed themselves with their songs; we didn’t actually see most of them. Songs and calls are how they communicate with each other, and we humans were just privileged listeners. 

By 6:52, we had heard 32 bird species - including a calling Sandhill Crane.

After a splendid breakfast, we returned to listening to the birds while walking under the morning sun. Other family members have houses on the farm and Carolina Wrens were happy to make their homes near them. If they are present you will certainly hear them. 

Unlike House Wrens, Carolina Wrens do not migrate and need to manage Ohio winters. While less common in the snow belt counties of NE Ohio (though increasing in numbers as winters become milder) they seem to be plentiful south of Cleveland.

I didn’t expect our walk to take us down through a large field and into a woodland.  The bird songs we heard quickly changed to a new habitat-specific ensemble. A woodland doesn’t sound like a meadow, and Summerhill Farm’s Savannah Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks would not be singing in the woods. 

Instead, we now heard the Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Acadian Flycatcher, a Barred Owl calling…and what was that in the background near the small, wet opening in trees near the Yellow-throated Vireo’s song? Could it be a Cerulean Warbler? 

I was able to get closer, and it most certainly was a Cerulean - always a very nice discovery! I haven’t had many opportunities to hear them on territory.
But John and Betsy are very conscientious about caring for the habitats on the farm, so it is no coincidence that this rich chorus of woodland singers could be found on their property. Protecting habitats - the concert halls, as I sometimes describe them - protects the birdsong ensembles.  

Heat and humidity were increasing with the sun’s intensity as we headed uphill back toward the house past the Savannah and Song Sparrows. The Dawn Chorus morning was ending, but could it really be only 10:15? 

Before we left the farm, I had to pay one last visit to the sheep. I was still intrigued by the vocal variation and nuance in their calls and could hear each one as an individual more easily than I could ever visually recognize them. While you listen to my favorite recording of the lambs and sheep, you can read the list of birds we heard.

You can find Summerhill Farm on Facebook, where you can watch their page for other events like this one. Betsy plans to do the Dawn Chorus event annually. As for me, this lifelong night person would be delighted to get up once a year at 4 AM before returning to her nocturnal ways.

 

Except for the opening and closing sheep photos, the photos of the Dawn Chorus morning were provided by Summerhill Farm.