Powerful performer

Spring’s dawn chorus is not to be missed – the volume and variety of birds singing is so intense and uplifting. Simon Barnes, in his book Rewild Yourself, reckons it is the “single biggest wildlife miracle that we have in Britain”.

Aim to be in place by 5am – a woodland or park is ideal, but every habitat has a dawn chorus. Among the multitude of robins, wrens, thrushes and tits, one abundant warbler you are almost bound to hear is the blackcap, whose song is so sweet and sustained that it is often mistaken for a nightingale.

GET INVOLVED

Set the alarm for International Dawn Chorus Day on 2 May: wildlifetrusts. org/dawn-chorus-day