On the Morning Chorus

I do not miss much about the States in my travels in Europe, but the one amazing event of nature I do miss sorely is the Morning Chorus. Living in Iowa and Missouri, Wisconsin and Minnesota, one hears the start of the singing of the birds just before dawn. The chorus grows; one can almost hear the songs moving out into the prairies, like concentric circles in a pool. In the earliest hours of daylight, one may hear hundreds, if not thousands of song birds greeting the sun.

I always thought the Morning Chorus was God's left-over gift from Eden, as if, even after expelling Adam and Eve from Paradise, He let them have the songs of praise to Him from some of His most insignificant creatures who obey just by being. That Christ redeemed Nature through His Cross and Resurrection is clear when one witnesses the Morning Chorus.

One of my favorite birds is the North American Robin, which is actually a thrush. Frequently, that bird would herald the day, with hundreds of its kind singing, with the other song birds of the Midwest: Warblers, Orioles, Grosbeaks, Tanagers, Fly-Catchers, Chickadees,Vireos, Pipits, Waxwings, Mourning Doves are merely some of the songsters of the morning in the Midwest. The Meadowlark, above, is always heard in Iowa and Missouri.

Now, in England, it is five o'clock and some of the birds have been singing for almost an hour. By 5:20 a.m., the songs will have faded away. Those people who never awaken early miss the Morning Chorus.

Outside my window, the Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Blackbirds, Mourning Doves (different species), Green-finches, English Robins, Blue-tits, Great-tits, and Tree Sparrows start the day. However, their numbers are limited, but then I am in London today, and not on the great prairies of the Midwest. However, I have noticed the decline in songbirds over twenty years. One is the Whinchat, which I have not seen or heard since I have returned.

I have only heard a magnificent, swelling chorus rarely in Great Britain. The songbirds, simply, are not as numerous in some places. Good Morning, God, these creatures sing.
Good Morning.