Listening to the more than human world is a fundamental piece of learning from the land. It decenters the human and allows us a chance to participate in the always ongoing conversations between birds, winds, trees, rivers, insects, and all the myriad of forms which inhabit the worlds we too inhabit.
This episode is a return to ritualized listening. While I try to listen all of the time, it’s around this time of year when my ears really pick up on novel sounds, calls and songs which have been missing from my local bioregion since at least the Fall, but some since the previous Spring. The theme of this show, of recording the early morning bird song in the warming days of Spring, recurs every year, and has since the last four years I believe. Its a good ritual to maintain.

Every year around this time I get to practice listening to the birds. I go and do my sit spot, or go for a walk and listen intently to try and notice who has returned to my part of the world from away, or who has been here all winter, but is now singing out.
This tradition is about relationship building through active listening and paying attention. We can’t know someone without listening to them, without giving them attention and acknowledging them. By listening to the birds and working towards understanding them we start to identify their needs, “desires” and habits. By listening to a human friend we do the same. Through this identification we might also develop empathy and care, compassion and love. Seems worth the listen to me.