Dawn Chorus Update #2: Waking Up from Winter at Point Whitehorn

[Stephen Chase]

Hi Whatcom Birds,

Point Whitehorn is a favorite early morning birding location. In May, June, and September I survey this site as part of a Whatcom Land Trust bird survey program. It's a thrill to see the seasons change here. This morning I arrived on site at 5:57 AM, about 15 minutes before first light. It was still quite dark, and the trees were dripping from a passing shower.

The first singing bird was a Song Sparrow at 6:02. Robins were "peeking" and "tukking" and finally one broke out into a subdued song at 6:09. For the most part, the first 15 minutes of twilight lacked a definitive dawn chorus. However, by 6:30, the woods were coming alive! Song Sparrows, Brown Creepers, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Purple Finches, Dark-eyed Juncos, Bewick's and Pacific Wrens, Varied Thrushes, Black-capped Chickadees, and Spotted Towhees sang intermittently along the half-mile walk to the bluff edge. Far to the north, I heard a Great Horned Owl hooting, and somewhere within the woods, a Mourning Dove sang as well. Just before sunrise, a Hutton's Vireo surprised me with its simple but repetitive song; they usually sing a bit later in the day than other birds. As you can hear in the background, there are many singing birds already, but admittedly it's not the rich, uninterrupted, multilayered chorus that typifies prime dawn chorus. But that's OK. It's early March; the woods are still waking up.

John Bower noted that the dawn chorus is already alive and well in the streets of Bellingham. Studies show that in urban areas, especially with more streetlights and road traffic, the dawn chorus starts earlier in the year, and the birds start earlier in the morning than their more rural counterparts. During late winter and early spring, Pacific Wrens and White-crowned Sparrows sometimes begin singing as early as 4 AM - hours before sunrise. The urban (and suburban) dawn chorus absolutely is a treat - a little taste of nature finding its way among human civilization. In more natural areas such as marshes and established woods, things take just a bit longer to warm up to the rich, intense burst of birdsong that typifies the dawn chorus.

Want to see spring migration happening in real time? Cornell Lab of Ornithology operates BirdCast, a migration forecasting and detection program. You can track live migration events, see forecast maps for the next three days, and use the Migration Dashboard to track spring migration in any state and county in the US. Here's the Migration Dashboard for Whatcom County. As migration ramps up, this same link will begin to list the expected nocturnal migrants passing through the county, based on eBird observations in the area. This is one of many reasons why I'm a strong proponent of reporting bird sightings to eBird - the world's largest citizen science project. Speaking of which, here's a link to my checklist from this morning's walk. 

Next week I hope to try a spot in the foothills, if the weather holds out. And it's only 15 days until spring officially begins!

In Everson,

Stephen Chase