I am remembering a beautiful morning of May 6, buzzing with bird action in my area. This morning was particularly notable because in addition to the usual robins, song sparrows, chipping sparrows cardinals, red-winged blackbirds, house sparrows and starlings that constitute the core of the soundscape that has formed, there were migrant species to add to the mix. Particular to this part of the season was the overlap of the time periods of two related new world sparrow species, namely the white-throated sparrow who sstops in foreign habitats from late April tomid-May and the white-crowned sparrow who stops from early May to later mid-May. We are therefore able to hear the two species sharing the same soundscape and each one extra-melodifying it in its own way, an unusual circumstance. So fortunate I was to record at that time. These birds will later finish their journey to their nesting habitats, which are very deep forests at least for the white-throated sparrow. To add to the enriched soundscape, migratory warbler season was also upon us, bringing various species of warblers, some unusual, to our areas.
Therefore, our first recording features two white-throated sparrows, and later a Northern parula, a dense forest warbler. All that is happening within a soundscape of a robin, red-winged blackbirds, a starling, a chipping sparrow and a house sparrow more in the backround. Further off, we can hear an occasional song sparrow on one side, and a distant white-crowned sparrow on the other. A cardinal enters near the end to sing its rise-and-fall theme.
Next recording, we continue with the cardinal, and watch the general soundscape being increasingly transformed by white-crowned and later white-throated sparrows. The robin continues too, and the parula switches to a loosely-strung trill theme that makes me think of juncos.
Finally, two white-crowned sparrows take the foreground while the rest of the soundscape thins out a little bit. The cardinal returns at one point, singing its higher-pitched chordal theme.
Enjoy my memories with me. Cheers to a birdful 2025.
