Dawn Chorus Breakfast

Taking place on the first Sunday of May, International Dawn Chorus Day is the worldwide celebration of nature's greatest symphony. All across the world people rise early to revel in the sweet sound of birdsong.

Bird surveys conducted at FarmED have shown that the diversity of bird species on the farm has risen significantly over recent years, rising from 44 different species recorded in 2014 to a cumulative total of 84 by 2020. Last spring, the survey highlighted the presence of seven species which are included on the RSPB’s endangered red list, plus six species which have amber status including skylarks, song thrushes and cuckoos.

Farmland is the preferred habitat of many British bird species and with 70% of the land in the UK given over to agriculture, farmers can help to overturn this decline by using management practices such as Countryside Stewardship within farmland. Farming in harmony with nature has been a high priority for us and we’ve embarked on a series of projects to create habitats, provide nesting boxes and implement supplementary bird feeding programmes.

The event will start at 4am, with a torchlit farm walk, ready for the dawn chorus to begin at 4.30am. We will be led by ornithologist Richard Broughton who is an expert on the bird population here at FarmED, having conducted our annual bird surveys for several years.

At 5.45am we will head back for hot drinks and a presentation from FarmED Founder, Ian Wilkinson, about the work we have done to increase the bird population on the farm. Breakfast will be served at 7am, freshly prepared using ingredients from the farm and local producers.

Join thousands across the world to celebrate nature at its most uplifting.