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May 10th

5/10/2013

 
Listen to English birds as you read. The sound will ease your mind.
PictureRobin redbreast
When the hectic rush of our daily lives presses in all around, go into the garden, pause and listen. The birdsong you hear can do a lot to soothe you.

Far too often noise takes away your concentration—loud television, people talking at the top of their voices and the sound of constant traffic. But audio experts say certain sounds make it easier to focus. They include birdsong, which stimulates the mind and relaxes the body.

Over thousands of years, people have learnt when the birds sing they are safe, but if they stop singing people need to worry. Birdsong is also nature's alarm clock. The dawn chorus signals the start of the day, which stimulates our mind and thoughts.

Many people believe birdsong can be of psychological benefit. Treasure has used birdsong to develop a free smartphone app called Study. It claims to be a productivity-boosting soundscape to listen to while you work. It can help focus, improve cognition and reduce tiredness. It's also designed to mask background noise that can disturb concentration, particularly conversation.

Well. I guess some people can't spare the time to take a moment outside to refresh themselves in reality. As a woman of leisure, I remember arriving home from the fiery kitchen at work and strolling into the back courtyard, away from traffic noises. English gardens attract the sound of wonderful birds—the surprising strength wrens calls, the blackbirds warbling song and the robin's night chorus.


PictureWren
Wrens are Britain’s most common breeding bird. Singing is most important at dawn, since this is when intruding males may attempt to steal territory. Defending males meet their challenger with song. If females like one contender in the vocal chorus, they may sneak off and seek extra-pair copulations.

The nightingale has probably the most celebrated song, with John Keats describing the bird pouring forth thy soul abroad in such an ecstasy! in his 1819 Ode to a Nightingale.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1798 poem The Nightingale reads: And hark! the Nightingale begins its song. "Most musical, most melancholy" bird!... so his song should make all Nature lovelier, and itself be loved like Nature!

William Wordsworth wrote the skylark's babbling song dost pour upon the world a flood of harmony in his 1805 verse To a Skylark.


PictureNightingale



I wrote this poem in my garden several years ago.

UNGRASPED MELODY

The sound tickling my brain

Releasing remembered pain

With ungrasped melody there

At the back, under my hair.
~
Music made by nearby birds

Although by my ears it's heard

It strokes parts contained within

Tweaking inside with a pin.
~
Ecstasy for all to feel

Not through chemicals, but real

Pay attention and you'll hear

Every birdsong that is near.
~
So many different notes

All put forth from tiny throats

Composed in alien ways

Seem to burst forth in relays.
~
Each note strikes a different part

Of my brain and of my heart

The same feeling that's perceived

When huge fireworks are achieved.
~
The birdsong lulls me to relax

Pushing out all thoughts that tax

Snatches of memory drift

Other patterns of time shift.


Birdsong works on our mind because it's made up of lots of random sounds. There is no repeating rhythm or pattern to focus on. There is no other sound that can achieve the same thing as birdsong on our brain. Make it part of the soundtrack to your day.

Amy link
5/9/2013 10:12:38 pm

Francene, I completely believe your statement that "Many people believe birdsong can be of psychological benefit." I just forget, from year to year, how lovely it is to hear songbirds in the spring, and I can see why so many people put out seeds and water to attract them. In the mornings around here lately I hear wrens, catbirds (similar to mockingbirds, with a repertoire of other birds' songs they sing) and bluebirds all trilling and warbling away. What a blessing! It makes it difficult for me to go back inside, it's such a pleasure!

Francene Stanley link
5/9/2013 10:26:29 pm

We're so lucky to have our hearing. I couldn't imagine living in a world without birdsong.

Sara link
5/10/2013 03:24:19 am

I'm listening to the birds right now. Their song reminds me mostly of my own mum - so it's an extra special thing to me. It's funny...my kids always notice their song - we outta do the same. THanks for your post.

Francene Stanley link
5/10/2013 03:35:43 am

I'm glad I brought back happy memories.

Erin Hatton link
5/10/2013 03:32:58 am

Beautiful. I absolutely love birdsong too. Nice to know that a simple pleasure can actually benefit us more than just the enjoyment. :)

Francene Stanley link
5/10/2013 03:36:49 am

Isn't it the case that things we enjoy in nature are usually the very ones that benefit us?

Suerae Stein link
5/10/2013 06:22:46 am

Francene, what a lovely poem and beautiful bird sounds. I also love listening to the birds as I walk in the mornings. It's so peaceful. It's nice to know that something we enjoy is actually GOOD for us (usually that's not the case)!


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

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