This is Bird Note.

The wall of birds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a towering mural,

showing nearly 250 life-sized birds across a map of the world.

It took artist Jane Kim 17 long months to paint.

It was a very solitary experience.

Sometimes it was almost lonely or isolating because there was

no one who was able to share that experience with me of painting day in and day out, sometimes

seven days a week. So like those birds all kind of became my friends. And not just the birds

Jane illustrated. Speakers throughout the building let visitors hear sounds of wildlife from the surrounding

nature sanctuary. In her book about the wall of birds, Jane reflected on how that soundscape

connected her to the outside world.

I'd paint in the lift for hours and hours, oblivious to the passing time, until the caterwauling calls of a barred owl, like a giant squeegee being dragged across a window, echoed through the lobby and interrupted my reverie.

During those two frequent all-nighters, the rolling trill of red-wing blackbirds announcing the dawn

informed me it was time to retire.

The chorus often brought to mind the words of Claude Monet.

I would like to paint the way a bird sings.

On my walk to the car through the sharp morning air, I couldn't help wishing I could sing

like them too. See photos from the Wall of Birds when you visit our website, birdnote.org.

I'm Mark Bramhill.