Mistle Thrush
International Dawn Chorus Day is the worldwide celebration of Nature's daily miracle - the Dawn Chorus. Each year the Wildlife Trust co-ordinates 'IDCD' and hundreds of early-morning events take place across the UK and around the world.
Celebrated on the first Sunday of May, the story goes that International Dawn Chorus Day began in the 1980s when broadcaster and environmentalist Chris Baines asked everyone to attend his birthday party at 4am so they could enjoy the dawn chorus with him. Since then IDCD has grown from a small event in Birmingham UK to an annual international celebration with Dawn Chorus events held as far afield as the Caribbean and Antarctica.
Organising your own Dawn Chorus event is easy. Agree a venue and find someone who's happy to help lead or guide people through it. Ideal places are nature reserves and national parks, but successful events have taken place in back gardens and barracks! Experience suggests that woodland produces the best choruses, but wherever you go, make sure you have permission to visit.
On the day, meet up as dawn is breaking and enjoy the music as the sun rises.
The time depends on where you are, about 4 a.m. in northern temperate areas, 6 a.m. in the Tropics and in the Southern Hemisphere as late as 8 a.m. If you can, organise a breakfast to follow. Publicise the event to your members, supporters, friends and the public. Send press releases to local newspapers, radio and television.
You can use your Dawn Chorus Event to attract new members or to raise funds (why not get sponsored for every bird you hear). You can raise your groups profile or just have a fun event for your existing members. But above all, spread the word about how you and people all around the world work to celebrate and protect wild birds!
This year, as they have for the last 30, all around the globe people will be rising early to greet the rising sun and enjoy nature's daily miracle. Join birdlovers all around the globe by taking part in International Dawn Chorus Day - the World's Favourite Birdwatch!
Listen to Tony Sames, who leads our walks at Moseley Bog & Joy's Wood talking about this:
See video footage of both a dawn chorus and an evening chorus at Moseley Bog & Joy's Wood: