News
06/03/2008
Scouts flock to dawn chorus
With over 450 recorded species of bird in the UK, International Dawn Chorus Day on 4 May is the perfect event to inspire your Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers to experience local nature at its finest!
From early spring to summer, as the day breaks songbirds live up to their name and fill the air with music. Since the 1980s, International Dawn Chorus Day has encouraged millions of people to wake up early and appreciate the local birds in their area.
BBC Breathing Places is a major BBC Learning Campaign to inspire and motivate you to create and care for nature-friendly green spaces where you live. As well as providing a limited number of free support packages for Sections or Groups holding their own dawn chorus event, there will be a number of broadcasts and radio programmes supporting the dawn chorus including BBC 1 ‘The One Show’ and local radio.
This event is an excellent opportunity to get your young people outside and interested in nature. It is also a great chance to engage with your local community, inspiring people within your area about how Scouting educates young people.
Getting involved
- Hold your own dawn chorus event or sleepover
Ideal places to hear songbirds are nature reserves and national parks, but successful events have even taken place in back gardens! You could even hold a sleepover at your Meeting Place, with everyone ready to get up and start listening. Experience suggests that woodland produces the best choruses, but wherever you go, make sure you have permission to visit. More on the dawn chorus
- Attend a local organised event
If you are unable to hold your own event, visit BBC Breathing Places to find a dawn chorus event taking place near you. For more information on International Dawn Chorus Day visit www.idcd.info.
Support Packs
Help is at hand if you want to hold your own event. When you register, you will be sent a free electronic participation pack with documents you can edit and add your own logo to. This contains everything you need to hold a successful Dawn Chorus Day event (except a venue, and some birds):
- Posters to publicise your event
- Media/press release so you can tell the world what's happening
- A leaflet to hand out to everyone who comes to your event
- Leaflets and posters in pdf format that you can print, copy or email in full colour
- A returns form so that you can let us know how your event went and add your birdlist to the biggest birdlist in the world!
For further information or to request your free package, please contact: Kelly Brotherhood at The Wildlife Trusts on 01636 670074 or e-mail: kbrotherhood@wildlifetrusts.org.
Inspired to hold an International Dawn Chorus Day event? If so, let us know.
KidsOutdoors.com: more ideas of outdoor activities to do with kids
