1 Stara Bialowieza dawn chorus
1st June 2004 04:00

It’s soon after dawn under the Stara oaks: distant cuckoos and woodpigeons mingle with the songs of the commoner woodland birds, while a collared flycatcher patrols his space with sweetly wheezing, atonal song, coming and going throughout the piece. Various woodpeckers drum, tap and call, marking the slow flow of time.

This would be a good chorus for any birders to test their identification skills - there are all sorts in there, for a tuned ear to pick out. But it would be a long and convoluted task to try to note all the different species activity through the piece; and really it’s more about the sum than the parts - the weave of the patterns. The balance of thematic variation gives a strong sense of consonance, the product of a long evolutionary history in a relatively stable habitat.

A few particularities:-
Black woodpeckers intermittently call in the distance, then a little closer at 8:10.
Soon after 10:00 some songs from a golden oriole nearby, and occasionally later.
11:40 loud tapping of black woodpecker.
12:20 blackcap song, treecreeper calls, with some red-backed shrike calls intermittent from around 13:00. More loud tapping from black woodpeckers.
16:10 black woodpecker drumming & song, then mixed with great spotted woodpecker.
Soon after 19:00 a white wagtail approaches the mics with soft liquid chirps (then flight at 21:20).
22:50 great spotted woodpecker calls close, and a few songs from treecreeper (and woodpecker quarrel).
25:00 beautiful ringing trills of black woodpecker flight calls.
From 28:00 a pair of ravens passing over. And a chaffinch singing nearby.
c. 30:30 crossbills flighting over (& 34:10), then the some odd notes of song from a blackbird very close (continued softly 39:00, then 43:20 in slightly fuller voice). And a hawfinch calling occasionally.
32:00 chaffinch starts rain call (churr-type).
34:10 the crossbills leave, calling. (into much distant drumming).
39:20 and following, treecreeper song quite close.
c42:20 black woodpecker calls in distance. Raven returning, with a lovely liquid ‘plop’.
43:15 the blackbird continues, with some odd tapping to the left.
c.45:15 some distant black woodpecker calls, then loud drumming a little later.
49:45 calls from collared flycatcher and spotteded flycatcher.
52:50 raven calls - urgent, maybe chasing a raptor off. Multitude of chaffinches
From around 55:50 some jays moving though, with occasional odd calls. And the day’s breeze is now starting to play through the tree-tops.
62:55 branch falls: jay responds with an odd wheezy call.

Woodpigeon, cuckoo, black woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, white-backed woodpecker (maybe), white wagtail, blackbird, blackcap, wood warbler, chiffchaff, treecreeper, coal tit, blue tit, great tit, collared flycatcher, spotted flycatcher, golden oriole, red-backed shrike, jay, raven, chaffinch, common crossbill, hawfinch can all be heard: and no doubt there are other voices in there too.