18th April 2026 dawn chorus in Northumberland

It was a frosty morning with a stunning cloud inversion and I was up near Otterburn in Northumberland at my parents' house during a period of beyond intense nervous system shutdown. It feels vulnerable to show my face when I was so unwell but it's the reality of living in an AuDHD nervous system which gets overwhelmed to the point of extreme mental and physical illness. It's been a lot. But the birds... they keep singing. They just keep singing. Everyday. Without fail. And April and May in England has got to be one of the Wonders of the World. The sound! It's MAGICAL! This was 5am in mid-April so the dawn chorus wasn't at full intensity, but it was still a thing of great beauty. Being up at that time in the morning on my own with my headphones and a good strong coffee is one of my most favourite things in the whole world. At any time of year, but spring is something else. The sound for this video isn't great... I'm having issues with my recording equipment so was only using in-built stereo microphones on my Zoom sound recorder. But despite that, it was worth the early start. Listen with headphones if you can... you'll enjoy it more. Happy bird bathing!