Dawn Chorus

During April and May, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire is going to be celebrating the sound of the dawn chorus.

As part of a nationwide collaboration, we will be up with the lark and recording the birds of Coventry and Warwickshire.

Do they have a different song or tone to the birds in another part of the country?

The dawn chorus of Coventry and Warwickshire

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire has been out and about recording parts of the dawn chorus across Coventry and Warwickshire. Grainne Green from the RSPB has also been in to our studios to listen to our recordings and has provided us with a dawn chorus commentary - which you can hear below...

Eddie Jones with his recording kit

Fillongley

On Tuesday, 1 April 2008, our broadcast engineer, Eddie Jones, went along to Fillongley in north Warwickshire and recorded the birdsong with a gun microphone.

The village is surrounded by countryside, which includes woods and B-roads.

Eddie was sure he heard an owl when he was recording by the churchyard.

Meriden

On Sunday, 30 March 2008, Keith Wedgebury was up and about at 5am to record the dawn chorus next to BBC Coventry & Warwickshire's main transmitter for Coventry, 94.8 FM on Meriden hill. It is not the big aerial, it is a transmitter that is amongst the woodland.

Wedge and Grainne Green at our studios

Middleton Hall

On Friday, 4 April 2008, Keith Wedgebury went to hear the dawn chorus at Middleton Hall in Tamworth - which is just over the Warwickshire border in Staffordshire.

He recorded the dawn chorus near the new RSPB reserve with a directional microphone. Also present was the warden of Middleton Lakes Reserve, Grainne Green.

The site is close to a gravel works - and they unfortunately start work very early!

Lark Stoke

On Saturday, 5 April 2008, Keith Wedgebury recorded the dawn chorus using a gun microphone at Lark Stoke, which is 199-feet above sea level. This is the just down from the summit where BBC Coventry and Warwickshire transmits at 259-feet above see level.

The Hill is part of the Cotswolds and covered with low stone walls, and short trees. There were also some pheasants nearby.

Lark Stoke

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We also would like you to call us and play your local birdsong down the phone - tune in to Wincey Willis' show on Sunday, 27 April for further information.

Mark Powlett

Up and about with Powlett

On Thursday, 1 May Mark Powlett will be presenting his show live from the countryside of south Warwickshire. He will be joined by morris dancers and will also be visiting the village of Ilmington for the last hour of his show.

This will also be another perfect opportunity to record another dawn chorus.

Wincey Willis

On Sunday, 4 May, Wincey Willis will be playing some of our dawn chorus recordings on her show, when she will also be joined by a member of the RSPB. Perhaps they will be able to detect a regional bird accent?

Why not record your dawn chorus on Dawn Chorus day (Sunday, 4 May) and Wincey will try and play some of them on her show later that day too.

Get in touch with us now if you are interested in sending us a dawn chorus recording. You can email: weekendswithwincey@bbc.co.uk or call 02476 539210 and leave a message. We will then get back to you.