BIRDNOTE®/SPRING RAINS REFRESH THE DESERT
Air Date: April 26, 2013
Every spring, the rain brings bird songs back to the California desert. Michael Stein has this week’s Birdnote®.
Transcript
CURWOOD: Spring. There is nothing like its rains to bring the California desert back to life. Here's Michael Stein with today’s BirdNote®.
RAIN FALLS
STEIN: A light April rain falls in the Anza Borrego Desert, in southeast California. Cacti and wildflowers glisten with raindrops, and birds begin to sing.
FINCH AND WREN SING
The sweet, jumbled notes of a House Finch rise above the sound of the rain.
HOUSE FINCH SINGS
A Bewick’s Wren buzzes then breaks into exuberant song.
BEWICK’S WREN SINGS
A Cactus Wren joins the chorus, standing atop a barrel cactus, calling gruffly….
CACTUS WREN HARSH RAPID SEQUENCE
A Costa’s Hummingbird hovers at a cactus blossom, beating the air with thrumming wings.
HUMMINGBIRD WINGS SOUNDS
A Mourning Dove coos.
DOVE COOS
Spring rains rejuvenate the desert.
BIRD SONG CONTINUES
I’m Michael Stein.
CURWOOD: To see some photos of the all these birds, flap your way to our website LOE.org.
### Written by Bob Sundstrom Sounds of the desert recorded at Anza Borrego Desert State Park [California] by Gordon Hempton, soundtracker.com. Featured call of Morning Dove provided by Macaulay Library at Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, recorded by W.R. Fish. Producer: John Kessler Executive Producer: Chris Peterson © 2013 Tune In to Nature.org April 2013 Narrator: Michael Stein
