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July before Dawn - Aldo Leopold

July 27, 2021
Dark - an hour before dawn, in the Wisconsin countryside...
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Field Sparrow Expand Image
© Pat Hemlepp

The song of this Field Sparrow was the first bird song Aldo Leopold awoke to on his Wisconsin farm in the 1940s. Sadly, Field Sparrow populations are declining rapidly. You can learn more about "The State of the Birds" from National Audubon, and the plight of the Field Sparrow in particular.

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BirdNote®

July before Dawn –
Aldo Leopold

Written by Bob Sundstrom
 
This is BirdNote!
[Field Sparrow song] 
A sweetly whistled song speeds toward a melodious trill. [Field Sparrow song] It is still dark, an hour before dawn on this July morning in the Wisconsin countryside. A Field Sparrow announces the new day [Field Sparrow song].
This was the first bird song Aldo Leopold awoke to on his farm in the 1940s. In his Sand County Almanac, a classic of conservation and nature writing, Aldo Leopold brought to life scenes of nature, a month at a time.
Picture a man sitting on a bench outside his cabin door, awaiting the dawn chorus, a cup of coffee in hand, “facing,” as Leopold put it, “the white wake of the morning star.” He wrote: “Before the Field Sparrows have quite gone the rounds [Field Sparrow song in background], the robin in the big elm warbles loudly his claim to the spot in the old tree …” [American Robin song]
“The robin’s insistent caroling awakens the oriole …” [Baltimore Oriole song]. Then “…the indigo bunting [Indigo Bunting song] and so it goes. Field Sparrows aren't as common today as they were in Aldo Leopold's day, but conservation of natural grasslands can help boost their numbers – and the Federal Conservation Reserve Program is leading the way, helping to maintain the ideal habitat for these sweet singers.
For BirdNote, I'm Mary McCann.
###

Bird audio provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Field Sparrow and Indigo Buntings’ song recorded by G.A. Keller. American Robin song recorded by W.L. Hershberger. Baltimore Oriole song recorded by A.A. Allen.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2012 Tune In to Nature.org     July 2018/2021     Narrator: Mary McCann

ID# 070207leopoldKPLU                       leopolda-01b

Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Mary McCann
Narrator
Pat Hemlepp
Photographer
Tags: history, reflection, vocalization, Wisconsin

Related Resources

Field Sparrow - More at All About Birds"The State of the Birds"Field Sparrow – More at Audubon Guide to North American BirdsLearn more about Aldo Leopold

More About These Birds

Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)

Spizella pusilla

Sights & Sounds

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Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

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