We do get a kind of dawn chorus here in Federal Way but there isn't a wide
variety of species and it's not so loud. I am a very early riser and I do
hear it. When I was growing up in Puyallup, the chorus (mostly of robins)
was deafening.

Rahne Kirkham
Federal Way
rahne at mindspring.com
----- Original Message -----
From: John Fleckenstein <JFMM490 at wadnr.gov>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 1999 12:37 PM
Subject: swallow songs


Tweetsters
One reason I have taken special notice of the swallows in the morning is the
general lack of a dawn chorus, at least in my neighborhood. In the midwest,
in late May and June, early dawn to sunup is a time of bedlam in birdsville.
In my old neighborhood, cardinals and robins led the way with grosbeaks,
orioles, and warblers adding to the mix. So many birds are calling at a
time that it's hard to identify them. In areas where diversity is high,
Breeding Bird Survey stops can be extremely confusing. It was one of the
benefits of having a baby in the spring and an excellent reason to walk the
dog at sunup.

Do people hear a dawn chorus elsewhere on the wet side? Does it happen in
areas of diverse habitat on the east side?

John Fleckenstein
Olympia