Day 197 of 365 - Birdsong Heritage
I can hear them already in the predawn hours, twittering away, doing whatever it is that birds do to make ready for the day before sunrise. It's one of the quiet early morning sounds I relish.
My eldest son could probably tell me which birds are singing and what their calls mean. He became enamored with birds at a young age. For all the years we owned homes, we always had back yard bird feeders and bird baths to attract more around our home. As he got older, he liked to go on hikes to see them in more natural surroundings. Bird books and binoculars became desirable gifts. Eventually he became an ecologist, with a particular interest in birds. Now, his own son, not yet two, has already shown an interest in listening to and imitating bird calls. It does not hurt that both parents are ecologists. :)
I guess you could say our whole family became enthralled with the effects of birdsong, because we acquired many nature sounds CDs, mostly gentle acoustic guitar music with a backdrop of birdsong. There was a brand called Solitudes, which had many of these. We still own some.
Birdsong was an important aspect of my own history too. I grew up in a small town in a rural area. The lot of our home backed onto a ravine filled with trees. Every morning, I could hear the local birds outside my window; chickadees, sparrows, blue jays and cardinals among others. Although I never became and avid birder like my son, birdsong remains a part of my heritage.
In my online feed this morning, a video presentation in the Ted Talk style appeared. It was by a nature advocate, Maryjane Claydon. She has a website called knowyouareearth.com Her topic was birdsong. After her family moved to a yurt to be closer to nature, she began recording podcasts of nature sounds to share with others.
Claydon references different scholars to make her points about the effects of the stressful sounds of our modern world, which has really only existed for a couple of hundred years. By contrast, birdsong has been around us for 6 million years. That nicely puts things in context, doesn't it?
Maryjane asserts that birds are part of our evolution, which may be why we see them as magical symbols of power and freedom. My son would agree with that. I can remember him saying once during an anxious stage in his youth, that he wished he could fly free like a bird.
Other scholars quoted by Claydon point out that, listening to birdsong reduces stress, and leads people to being more alert and better able to concentrate. It creates a deeper connection to the world around us.
She ended her presentation with this statement I'd like to quote. "We live in challenging times. Listening to birdsong can awaken the ancient knowing that we all have inside us that we are part of nature." Amen to that.
As I sat writing this post, I was fortunate to hear a variety of birds in the many trees on the property of our apartment building, which is also near the river. I'm so grateful to still have that nearby connection to nature.
My eldest son could probably tell me which birds are singing and what their calls mean. He became enamored with birds at a young age. For all the years we owned homes, we always had back yard bird feeders and bird baths to attract more around our home. As he got older, he liked to go on hikes to see them in more natural surroundings. Bird books and binoculars became desirable gifts. Eventually he became an ecologist, with a particular interest in birds. Now, his own son, not yet two, has already shown an interest in listening to and imitating bird calls. It does not hurt that both parents are ecologists. :)
I guess you could say our whole family became enthralled with the effects of birdsong, because we acquired many nature sounds CDs, mostly gentle acoustic guitar music with a backdrop of birdsong. There was a brand called Solitudes, which had many of these. We still own some.
Birdsong was an important aspect of my own history too. I grew up in a small town in a rural area. The lot of our home backed onto a ravine filled with trees. Every morning, I could hear the local birds outside my window; chickadees, sparrows, blue jays and cardinals among others. Although I never became and avid birder like my son, birdsong remains a part of my heritage.
In my online feed this morning, a video presentation in the Ted Talk style appeared. It was by a nature advocate, Maryjane Claydon. She has a website called knowyouareearth.com Her topic was birdsong. After her family moved to a yurt to be closer to nature, she began recording podcasts of nature sounds to share with others.
Claydon references different scholars to make her points about the effects of the stressful sounds of our modern world, which has really only existed for a couple of hundred years. By contrast, birdsong has been around us for 6 million years. That nicely puts things in context, doesn't it?
Maryjane asserts that birds are part of our evolution, which may be why we see them as magical symbols of power and freedom. My son would agree with that. I can remember him saying once during an anxious stage in his youth, that he wished he could fly free like a bird.
Other scholars quoted by Claydon point out that, listening to birdsong reduces stress, and leads people to being more alert and better able to concentrate. It creates a deeper connection to the world around us.
She ended her presentation with this statement I'd like to quote. "We live in challenging times. Listening to birdsong can awaken the ancient knowing that we all have inside us that we are part of nature." Amen to that.
As I sat writing this post, I was fortunate to hear a variety of birds in the many trees on the property of our apartment building, which is also near the river. I'm so grateful to still have that nearby connection to nature.
Comments
Post a Comment