In the March Garden the first few bars of the opening movement of Spring warm our winter-locked-up lives with promise. Earth is waking from winter rest – the thawing of frozen hopes bringing a foretaste of better things. Dreams have kept us going when times have been rough, now they are turning into reality.
Continue reading “March – in the Spring Garden”
As the year ends, the light fades and the cold of winter deepens, but for a moment a beautiful song of hope is filling the air as it did for Thomas Hardy. Continue reading “My Darkling Thrush”
Why does birdsong so often lift the human spirit? It certainly does mine. Join me as I listen to the wonderful sound of the May Dawn Chorus now in full flow. Continue reading “May’s Music – with the Dawn Chorus”
Sing on sweet thrush, upon the leafless bough,
Sing on sweet bird, listen to thy strain,
And aged winter, mid his early reign,
At thy blythe carol, clears his furrowed brow.’
Robert Burns
The other day (Feb 1st ) I was sitting indoors when I heard a sound for which I am always waiting at this time of year. Opening the window, there it was, loud and clear, crisp and melodious—unmistakably the first Song Thrush—right on cue, singing its heart out claiming a territory for itself. It’s my favourite songbird, especially because it is the first bird to sing. It gives us so much pleasure by its beautiful solo performance – a herald of the dawn chorus to come, causing ‘aged winter to clear his furrowed brow’.
