Joyful Chorus
The Dawn Chorus
Surely one of the most beautiful aspects of spring is the incredible variety of birdsong. According to the Woodland Trust, the dawn chorus is at its best between the months of March and July, with its peak during May and June. If you are awake, the first tentative songs begin about an hour before sunrise with Robins, Blackbirds, and Thrushes. Pre-dawn singers include Wood Pigeons, Wrens, and Warblers, with Great Tits, Blue Tits, Sparrows, and Finches joining in only when it becomes light enough for them to see.
Of course, the chorus is all about defending territory and raising young, with the singing coming typically from male birds. Who knew that it takes quite a bit of energy to stand there and sing your heart out? Consequently, only the strongest birds succeed in winning over females and securing the best nesting sites.
Today, I heard a Cuckoo, and I have to say I was thrilled, because I don’t think I have heard one for years. An old rhyme states, ‘The cuckoo comes in April, she sings her song in May, in leafy June she changes her tune, and in July she flies away.’ While I was delighted to hear this once familiar song, a cuckoo has rather unpleasant habits because it lays its eggs in other birds’ nests for them to rear at the expense of their own young. A bird with behaviour such as this is known as a ‘brood parasite.’
While the month of May continues to reveal the new life of spring, the Church remembers the new life revealed in the wind, the fire, and the voices of the gathered apostles at Pentecost, celebrated this year on 24th May.
Following Jesus’ resurrection and after appearances to at least five hundred people, the Holy Spirit tore through the gathered people like a mighty wind, touching each person with something like fire, which enabled them to go out from the place they were into the world to proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ. Not only were they touched by something like fire, but they received the gift of different languages, too.
This was the birthday of the Church itself and the dawn chorus of two thousand years of worship.
I hope you are able to hear the utter beauty of nature’s concert, sung for us each morning and may you know the blessing of Jesus Christ, whose incredible claims were proved to be true and who left the Holy Spirit as our guide and counsellor until he returns.
Revd Susan