Stay awake for the dawn chorus
INSOMNIACS have a treat in store in the wee hours of May 7, when Radio 4 will follow the melodic sounds of waking birds across Europe.
The seven-hour broadcast (from just after midnight) is for International Dawn Chorus Day (IDCD) and will track the rising sun from Moscow to Dublin, via capercaillies in Normandy, France, bluethroats in the Netherlands, tawny owls and cuckoos, culminating in a live broadcast—hopefully— of bitterns booming in the Ham Wall nature reserve in Somerset. ‘It’ll be like the Eurovision Song Contest, but with better singing,’ as a BBC employee puts it.
The IDCD is organised by the Wildlife Trusts; to find your nearest event, visit htpp://idcd.info