June 27, 2010 Oh Dark Thirty

People interested in birds are generally early risers with good reason. The birds are more active in the morning. Or at least this is the conventional wisdom. In the forests around Kirtland, I can attest this is absolutely the case. 20 to 30 minutes before sunrise the birds begin to sing. A few individuals at first, but this choirs builds and rises as the day breaks, peaking just before sunrise, then slowly fades in the next hour or so.

Saturday, we decided to be on the Black-throated Blue territory before sunrise. This meant getting up extra early and traveling the deserted roads in the dark. The newspaper delivery people are startled to see another car and must swerve back to the right side of the road.

It is so dark we need flashlights for some of our preparations to head back into the remote woods. The thick canopy of leaves makes it darker. We do not use flashlights as we hike. Our night vision is fine and we can see the trail, although the muddy parts are less obvious.

What is astounding is the choir of birds. During daylight we are lucky to hear 1 or 2 Wood Thrush singing in the same area. Now we have 5 to 7 in constant ear shot. Tweedle dee... Twedle zeeeeeee. The Cardinal is especially emphatic. Thoo-tut thoo-tut thoo-tut tu tu tu tu tu tu tu tu.The erratic Redstart, and the soft: sooo oh oh laaa zee of the Black-throated Green Warbler. The tinker bell of the Dark-eyed Junco, and the symphony of the Winter Wren. The Red-eyed and Yellow throated Vireos, the Tanagers, Hooded Warblers and Ovenbird All going at once. It is still very dark.

To me it is as if the birds sing to greet the new day.

It is glorious!

We arrive at the Black-throated Blue site, and the males are joining in too. Staying in one place and alternating songs. Adding as much variety as they can manage.

By 9 it is eerily quiet. Once in a while a bird will sing, but we hear more of the wind than birds songs. The day seems half over. Having gotten up at 4 am, for us, it is.

The schedules of our lives make it difficult to be up and in the deep woods at dawn every day. I live in the woods and hear lesser version of this every mid summers morning. I don’t know if I would want to put up with the swarming mosquitoes either. Still, when you can muster oh dark thirty, it really is glorious.