A UNIQUE event to celebrate the joyful sound of the dawn chorus is to be staged in Wisbech Park next month. Due to start at 3.45am, everyone is welcome to attend the Dawn Chorus Day on Sunday May 3, to listen to one of the great wonders of nature. A free

A UNIQUE event to celebrate the joyful sound of the dawn chorus is to be staged in Wisbech Park next month.

Due to start at 3.45am, everyone is welcome to attend the Dawn Chorus Day on Sunday May 3, to listen to one of the great wonders of nature.

A free breakfast bap is on offer to early morning promenaders who have booked their snack on the website www.wisbech-townpark.com, thanks to butcher Richard Plater. The Wheatsheaf on Church Terrace is backing the initiative by offering half price breakfasts from 7am.

The Friends of Wisbech Park are organising the ground breaking initiative, and have involved local schools, by providing special project packs and reward certificates for those taking part in the free event.

"This is a first for Wisbech, it may even be a first for the whole country," said John Smith, project manager of the Dawn Chorus Day.

"We need to encourage the very young to take pride in their park, to feel it is theirs, and so grow up to value and protect it.

"The park is a vital part of Wisbech and its heritage. Sadly it became derelict, but has now been restored to something of its former Victorian splendour."

The 11-acre park is home to a variety of birds, including tits, robins, gold crests, blackbirds, thrushes, and collared doves. Even nightingales have been heard singing there.

Peter the Parrot from FX Fancy Dress Studio will be meeting children around town in the days leading up to the event. Further sponsors include Fenland District Council, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the British Trust for Ornithology, the Wildlife Trusts, Wisbech in Bloom, the Friends of St Peter's Church garden and several other businesses and organisations.

Bob Ollier, parks and open spaces manager for Fenland District Council said: "The event give an ideal opportunity to show off what we have achieved in the park. We look forwards to welcoming new visitors, the local community and children, who will discover with us the delights of this Victorian gem and listen to the wonderful dawn chorus we have in the park.