Perhaps other people have different expectations of a dawn chorus. But I found the birdsong in the BBC4 documentary disappointing. To me the essence of a beautiful dawn chorus is that there are several different species all singing at the same time - as a chorus does. And it should be full of the primal energy of spring. In an hour long program with just birds and no voice-over commentary we heard mostly single birds. Unless it happened when I popped out for a brief minute I didn't hear a garden warbler or blackcap and it was 50 minutes into the programme before the willow warbler made an appearance. And the cuckoo? And the skylark?
I've heard dawn choruses where the surge of sound is overwhelming, and melodic too. It is something associated with the best woodland. Comparing it to a magnificent orchestra heard live doesn't do it justice. On the right morning at this time of year you might hear several willow warblers, a blackcap, a robin, dunnock and wren, a blackbird and thrush all at the same time with a cuckoo close by and passing jackdaws and rooks. The ticket price for this entertainment could be many times what you might pay at the City Hall.
What a pity that this short series of BBC programmes was such a mixed bag. The idea was a good one: putting on films not blighted by the obsession with face-in-the screen presenters and hyper-active camerawork - all those things that feed the short attention span problems directors fear in the audience . The National Gallery programme was OK. The dawn chorus one seemed to be made by someone who didn't have a vision of what the film could be about.
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