This urban recording begins at dawn with the wind-down of the outlandish nocturnal mating calls ("peents") and display of the American Woodcock. Next comes the Song Sparrow and Northern Cardinal as the light grows. Finally, the Field Sparrows and Eastern Towhee begin their songs. Of the songbirds of the Hamilton area, these represent a mix of early migrants and year-round resident species.

This soundscape was edited from recordings of the morning of April 10, 2019 at McMaster Forest in Ancaster, Ontario. This was the very first day the Eastern Towhee was heard singing at McMaster Forest on recording, which presumably means this species arrived overnight as a nocturnal migrant from more southern climes.

Note that this location is urban, located between the communities of Dundas, Ancaster, and West Hamilton. The most prominent anthropogenic background noise is the 403 Highway and nearby train line. This soundscape has been lightly edited to reduce this noise.

Heard singing, calling, or both in this episode: American Woodcock, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Field Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Carolina Wren, American Crow, Canada Goose, American Goldfinch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Common Grackle, Ring-billed Gull, Red-winged Blackbird.

Audio editing by Rob Porter

Audio sourced from the Hamilton Bioacoustics Research Project of the Hamilton Naturalists' Club. More specifically, this recording comes from one continuous recording started early March going through mid-May to capture the arrival dates of breeding songbirds.

For more information, visit http://hamiltonnature.org/songscapes