Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Dawn chorus

It's summertime in Australia. The days are long. The sky is well-lit by 5am. But before the sun come the birds. The dawn chorus.
If you happen to wake at 4am (or worse, your small child does), good luck getting back to sleep when the birds are so very clearly awake and ready for the day.

This morning, it was the Australian ravens. I've always had a dread of crows. There is something very Edgar Allen Poe about them (strange harbingers of death), and they make me uncomfortable. But Australian ravens...they are simply harbingers of sloth.

Have you ever heard them? "WAH! WAH! Waaaaaaaaaawwwwwww...."
They remind me of (incredibly loud) toys that mimic the cow noise when you flip them upside down, the long drawn out "waaaaaaawwwwww" fading to nothingness as the air leaks out.
And they were at it in vast numbers outside my window at 4am today.

I'll take another cup of tea, please.

3 comments:

  1. Waking up to the dawn chorus can be lovely - but not at 4am and not crows! Maybe you need some earplugs for Christmas?

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  2. perfect rendition of the dreaded black birds!....i am sorry they keep you awake at such an hour sometimes in spring we have the tree outside my bedroom window full of "cooing & warbling" baby maggies....but that is quite a pleasant bird song compared to the bloody crow! I agree with Aussie Mum....ear plugs should be on your wish list along with an extra 1.5 hours of sleep every morning!....STAT!

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  3. Oh my goodness, ladies. I fell asleep on the playroom floor OF A FRIEND'S HOUSE this afternoon while three little girls played around (and possibly on top of) me. When they say "4am wake-ups are for the birds", they aren't kidding.

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