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In 2020, we reviewed Pablo Diserens’ on australian shores, recorded just before the Australian fires that ravaged the continent and depleted it of irreplaceable ecosystems. In 2022, Australian Bird Calls: Songs of Disappearance topped sales charts in its native land and became a bright spot in news stories around the world. In 2024, Ian Andrews‘ Dawn chorus, before the fires dives into the same territory with a gorgeously melded pair of recordings from 2010, preceding not only Australia’s Black Summer Fires of 2019-20, but the bushfires of 2012.
The value of this recording cannot be overstated: a snapshot of a thriving biophany that may never be restored. Andrews has helpfully identified all of the species he can in order of appearance, beginning with the distinct and perfectly named green catbird, and featuring birder favorites such as the laughing kookaburra. We’ve been enjoying the sounds of these birds generation after generation, but their population has been thinning to the point that one day these recordings may be all we have. This particular pair of sunrise recordings is notable for its lushness, its crispness, and the way in which one species seems to cede sonic dominance to the next, again and again. What a privilege it must have been to be immersed in this dawn chorus as it unfolded in real time!
As one might expect, the sounds one hears are not only birds, but the wind, the water and the occasional rustle. An incredible amount of twists and turns take place in just over half an hour, akin to the unfolding of a symphony. It’s no wonder that classical composers were entranced by the sound of avian atmospheres. One can imagine a score being written to reflect the ebbs and flows of this biophany, but nothing can replace the real thing; which is the tragedy of tragedies. Add the human threats to endangered species, and the heart is paralyzed.
Will such sounds ever be heard again? Will this Dawn chorus inspire gratitude, mourning, action, or some combination of the three? Andrews writes that these recordings were made “very close to the earliest sunrise of the year.” We hope that they will spark an even larger sunrise, a sunrise of awareness. (Richard Allen)
Impulsive Habitat Download Link
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