What about the Dusk Chorus ?? (1 Viewer)

[Scott67]

Now dont get me wrong I'm a big fan of the Dawn Chorus, it's uplifting, noisy and can be quite ethereal at times, but what about that other great chorus time... Early evening or Dusk?

I live in a part Rural (Parkland, Fields, Dam to one side) Part Suburban (Northern Industrial Town to the other side) area, a sort of Sub-Rural location if you like, and any time between 6pm and 10pm I get the same usual suspects singing away, however to me its far better as,

A) I get to hear a FULL song as opposed to loads of interruptions from rival males.

B) I can hear Song Thrush sing.

C) I can enjoy a nice Glass of something intoxicating whilst listening to bird song.

D) It does'nt alarm any neighbours who may look out of their windows and see this fool gawping up at the trees. (Try doing that at 4.00 am and not get any funny looks !)

E) I can see early evening mammal visitors too.

Any one agree especially on these balmy summer evening we seem to be having at the moment.

 

[Edward]

I have to agree that the Dusk chorus at this time of the year is great. Basically birds sing 24 hours a day now and if you go into the countryside at two or three in the morning in June the air will still be full of drumming Snipe, twittering Meadow Pipits and bubbling Whimbrel.

It reminds me of something a good friend of mine said whilst we were searching for particular bird on Friday evening. As we hadn't found it in the first two hours we were discussing our next tactics.
He said "I'm prepared to hang around until it gets dark."
We looked at him and said "You can wait on your own then, because it doesn't get dark until the end of July."
We left when the mist descended.

 

[John N]

I have to agree with you. Sitting outside on a nice evening with a drink and listening to all the different bird songs is very pleasant indeed. B

 

[Scott67]

hmmm I would gladly take endless hours of daylight to Birdwatch, Listen and Photograph, not too sure about endless hours of Darkness though.

However As I am literally days away from becoming a new father, Days and Nights will probably blend in to one seemless blur.

So heres to the Dawn, Mid-Day, Dusk and night time Chorus, And not all being sung by our feathered friends.

 

[birdman]

I agree entirely Scott67!

I happen to live on the edge of town - so I guess that qualifies as sub-rural, and yes, on these balmy summer evenings I can listen to the last of the Skylarks, Yellowhammer, Warblers - Blackbirds and Thrushes as you say, and whilst it's not quite the same thing, I also get twitterings from hirundines.

You know it's time to go in as the goose-bumps just start to appear, and the owls start to hoot!

 

[HH75]

Hi all,
The dusk chorus can,of course,include such interesting species as Woodcock,Grasshopper Warbler,juv.Long-eared Owls(!)and Nightjars...;-)Corncrakes also possible where found.
Harry H

 

[Aitch]

And you don't have to get up!!!!!

 

[StevieEvans]

I agree, the end of the day is best, plus you dont have the morning dew & a load of spider webs to put up with.!

 

[Tannin]

I do sometimes get up to listen to the morning chorus - though not at this time of year, it's early winter here - and aside from the birds, if I'm up early enough I am sometimes rewarded with the silent and extraordinarily other fluttering of a small community of bats as they hunt for just one last extra insect in the dawn-grey light before they go to bed.

But I also love the evenening chorus. It's a very special time of day. As it darkens, most creatures roost early, the wonderfully inventive Grey Shrike-Thrush has packed it in, as have the very vocal Rufous and Golden Whistlers. There is the occasional note of discord as a Blackbird chitters, and, from the rather less unwelcome New Holland Honeyeaters, a series of inividual calls from various high vantage points here and there and everywhere around, and (as often as not) a coroboree of perhaps eight or ten of them, all gathered in a little circle on the ground and - as near as anyone has worked it out yet - singing their high-pitched and raucous version of an end-of-match team song.

As the other creatures fade into silence one by one, the Magpies begin to carol softly, growing louder in the stillness as one by one the other voices cease - and for all the thrilling virtuosity of the Grey Shrike-Thrush or the multi-instrumental wonder of the Lyrebird, for mine the low-pitched subtle tonal variation of a pair of Magpies caroling is the finest song of all.

And then, just as the last of the red of sunset begins to fade and the colours of the garden turn to shadows, comes the Kookaburra chorus. Loud. Irreverant. Unmistakable. The laughter echoes round and around the gentle wooded valley as one bird, two birds, five birds take up their tribal duty, redoubling their effort the moment that one or more of the neighbouring Kookaburra families returns the battle cry.

And almost as soon as it is in full hysterical flight, it fades to intermittent rolling chuckles, then to silence. A Magpie calls one last time, then another.

It is dark already.

 

[Edward]

That's a fabulous description Tannin, I'm almost in Ballarat with you reading that. I have seen some the birds you mentioned but only remember the sounds of the Magpie, a wonderfully musical chortle, the manic laughter of the Laughing Kookaburra and the very distinctive Eastern Whipbird.

I was wondering whether you have any experience of the Blue-winged Kookaburra (you certainly won't in Victoria of course!) because in my Aussie field guide it simply says "Voice: appalling" and ever since I read that I've been dying to hear one (saw one very briefly in central Qld but didn't hear it).

greetings from 24-hour daylight Iceland
E