Naturally Connected: Chirping from the crypt

It's three o'clock in the morning and then the cell phone is ringing,

alarms ringing and you ask yourself what the hell, what I'm doing here?

That's Micha Alt, a Berlin-based environmental educator who runs bird watching workshops that

involve getting up before sunrise to witness the dawn chorus when one by one male birds begin

singing as it gets light, to attract females and mark their territory.

In what is probably nature's sweetest symphony.

Micha doesn't run these workshops in forests, parks or any of the other usual spots you

might expect.

Instead, they're held in a place known for being dead quiet.

Can you guess?

And right now we are at the cemetery.

Yes, at a cemetery, you heard right.

Yeah, maybe it's a little bit spooky for some people,

but it's a really, really good, good place for doing some courses

and especially for the bird language course that we offer.

Cemeteries are some of the most biodiverse places cities have to offer

because they're largely undisturbed from human activity.

And cemeteries are really good places also because there are not a lot of people.

Well, there are a lot of people, but they won't make any noise anymore.

So there's just the visitors sometimes and they are really quiet also.

So birds aren't really afraid of these people.

This means that nature can do its own thing.

Tall trees, dense shrubs and meadows make cemeteries ideal bird habitats.

And this is really important because birds need special habitat structures for,

for example, for making their nests or raising their chicks or looking for some food.

But let's rewind for a minute.

Let me take you back to the moment I first arrived at the cemetery.

It's late afternoon, and as I enter the vast grounds,

it's like stepping into another world,

a tranquil, lush, green oasis,

separate from the loud, bustling city just a few hundred metres away.

About 20 other people are joining me today for this workshop.

After a few icebreakers,

Micha gives us an evening tour of the grounds,

pointing out some of the birds that have made this cemetery their home.

For him, teaching is less about delivering lectures

and more about creating spaces for personal learning experiences.

So the personal emotion and the personal relationship

is super important to learn things properly.

Fun is really important because if you don't have fun,

you can't learn really easily, I think.

If you ask yourself a lot of questions, then you will learn a lot, I think.

So fun and motivation is really important.

He's also really keen to create a sense of community,

to bring people together in nature and help them connect with it.

That's why no more than 20 people can join each workshop.

As that gives everyone enough space, literally and metaphorically,

to let their experience sink in and really resonate with them.

Michi and his colleagues started the workshops in 2023.

as a pilot project.

They didn't know whether there'd be enough demand.

Turns out, demand is huge,

with all workshops booked out in advance.

It's about half past six now.

Still quite light.

Very peaceful.

It's almost like the birds are talking to each other.

There might be, actually.

This cemetery is home to over a dozen different bird species,

including blackbirds and redstarts,

but also a bird that some Living Planet listeners

might already be familiar with.

Oh, that was a crow, I think.

Yeah, that's definitely a crow up there.

And another bird some may have heard of,

they recognize.

The wood pigeon, which is fairly easy to recognize,

even for beginners like me.

Birds have different vocalizations

depending on what they're trying to communicate.

There are also some other sounds that birds make.

For example, some short sounds like a...

This is not a typical sound like singing.

Yeah, it's a warning call.

That one that could be from a robin, for example.

You know this little bird?

It's this little bird with the tiny legs and the orange chest

and the really beautiful black bright eyes and his song melody.

It is really clear and bright and it's a little bit of melancholy I would say but it's really really beautiful.

Eventually, as evening turns to night, we settle down and get ready to sleep, as we've

got a very early start ahead of us.

So the plan is to get up at around 2.30, 2.45, to be not the early bird, but the first bird.

So our plan is as a group to get up before.

The birds start their dawn chorus.

It's going to be tough getting up.

I mean, it's essentially, it's not even morning, that's...

that's night time.

Let's hope I didn't forget anything.

I pitch my tent and lie down.

That's cozy. Very cozy.

You can hear the city quieting down as well.

So, you can hear a lot of birds.

You could almost forget that you're in a big city of three and a half million people.

Then I set multiple alarms on my phone and fall asleep.

2.50am. Alright.

Time to get dressed and have some coffee.

I clamber out of my tent, feeling groggy after just three hours of sleep.

It's pitch black outside, and so cold I can see my breath.

Slowly, my eyes adjust to the darkness, and I get my bearings.

Oh, you can hear the birds waking up slowly.

Very gradually.

It's beautiful.

It's beautiful.

As I explore the grounds, I can hear a few early rises.

As I explore the grounds, I can hear a few early rises.

It's such a unique experience because I can focus all my attention on the dawn chorus.

It's such a unique experience because I can focus all my attention on the dawn chorus.

There are zero distractions.

There are zero distractions.

It's all the more special because normally I'd be fast asleep at this kind of hour.

It's all the more special because normally I'd be fast asleep at this kind of hour.

And then, to my great satisfaction, I hear a crow calling out.

And then, to my great satisfaction, I hear a crow calling out.

Is this the crow I heard last evening?

Is this the crow I heard last evening?

Maybe.

Maybe.

I'd like to imagine it was.

I'd like to imagine it was.

Hello, and good morning to you.

Hello, and good morning to you.

By now it's 5 a.m. and fully light.

Micha gives us a morning tour of the grounds.

So that high-pitched chirp is a robin.

Let me see if I can pick it up.

The tiny, red-chested creature commands all my attention.

I'm mesmerized by the robin's elaborate songs.

For a long time, it was thought that only male robins were capable of such complex vocalizations,

singing their hearts out in breeding season to attract females and defend territory.

But recent research has found that female robins are just as talented.

In autumn and winter, both sexes can be heard producing elaborate songs to mark their respective territories.