Changing Shifts.....

When day takes over from the night……

A recording I made at dawn in 2023, at 1200m a.s.l in a sub-alpine spruce forest. It opens with a Cuckoo (="day shift") and a Tawny owl (="night shift"). Slowly another day bird, the European Robin, picks up momentum in its contribution to the dawn chorus. At 20 secs another "night shift" bird, the Woodcock, enters making its eery "roding" call, and flies from left to right across the scene. A critical time, when night sounds change to day sounds, that lasts for only a few minutes.

But how long will these rich forest habitats remain intact? Climate change is now stressing the trees which show bad attacks of bark beetles, and the hotter climate is drying out the marshes and damp undergrowth upon which the Woodcocks depend. The piece closes with the approach of an aircraft, from the left almost chasing the Woodcock, which for me is symbolic of the the approach of the growing human footprint which is endangering such wonderful habitats.

It contains an interesting mix of birds: the Cuckoo and Woodcock both are not that common nor are they easy to record. And it represents a scene which will inevitably disappear as human activities slowly strangle such habitats.