"The sun rises just after 5.30am, but the sky begins to lighten well before that; and an hour or so before dawn breaks the birds begin to sing. It is usually a toss-up between the blackbird and the robin as to which bird will be first off the mark; this morning, to my delight, the robin wins the race. The silence breaks without fanfare, in a slow, measured warble, somewhere in the distance.
As the notes float towards me on the still, early-morning air, the sheer purity of the song is a marvel. [...]
Within minutes, several other robins have joined in, together with the other early birds. These include blackbirds, whose deep, fluty 'oboe-voice' (to quote one Victorian ornithologist) echoes through the foliage; then song thrushes, which sing as if they are telling us a story, with repeated, rhythmic phrases.
Within an hour, the latecomers have started to sing, too; the blackcap, which always sounds to me like a speeded-up blackbird; the willow warbler, whose silvery tones descend the scale like a stream running rapidly downhill; and the urgent, hurried song of the chaffinch, which, as the writer Simon Barnes once noted, sounds like a fast bowler in a game of cricket running into his delivery stride."
From The Robin: A Biography by Stephen Moss.
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If you don't already know it (and I'm sure there are other similar ones), the Merlin app has a birdsong recording/identification function. I used it a great deal last spring and found its 'unpicking' of the great sound-tapestry I was hearing very interesting.
If you're in the UK you may like to sign up for the RSPB Great Garden Birdwatch which takes place towards the end of this month.
Finally, a favourite bird book from recent years: Waiting for the Albino Dunnock by Rosamond Richardson.
