12/05/19. Dawn Chorus in the woods at Cominac. Part II
Sitting there in the dark, surrounded by forest sounds was wonderful. The first birds of the morning followed by some barking deer. Then lots of rustling sounds all around, from foraging deer I think. A cuckoo starts up; then more deer barking. The chorus reaches a crescendo; and the tawny owls are still ...
12/05/19. Dawn Chorus in the woods at Cominac. Part I
I sat on a comfortable and quiet rotting log by the track after setting up my microphones in a wood clearing. It was quite early; about 5am, and there was very little sound except for those noises made by those of us present setting up our kit across the forest to record the dawn chorus. ...
10/05/19. Black redstarts in Aulus-les-Bains before dawn.
I sat on a bench in the quiet narrow winding streets of Aulus well before dawn and waited for the Black Redstarts. In the background the River Garbet can be heard as it continues to empty the spring thaw down the valley. Black redstarts are quite rare in the UK; I had never heard one ...
10/05/19. Meadow above Aulus-les-Bains
Beautiful secluded meadow near Ustou, above Aulus-les-Bains; late afternoon. I sat at the edge of a boggy corner of this meadow and listened to the bees and other insects together with lots of birds. This is a short excerpt from the hour I spent there. Unfortunately, there were also lots of plane noises, and ...
21/05/19. Skokholm harbour tide, seals and birds late morning.
This was recorded just before noon on the track just down a bit from the lime kiln. It was a warm sunny morning; the tide was still receding. Lots of birds, and seals. The seals start their grunting, hissing, belching and singing around 2:25 on the recording. (Don’t turn this up too loud. It sounds ...
24/05/19. Storm Petrels and Shearwaters.
A magical thing happens on Skokholm this time of year as it gets dark. If there is no moon, or if it’s sufficiently cloudy, then some of Skokholm’s most precious seabirds become audibly active and eventually take flight out to sea to feed, or alternately return from sea with food. Storm petrels like to ...
24/05/19. Great Black Backed Gulls in conversation, Skokholm.
It was about noon and I was walking down the path from the harbour to the Lighthouse. Near “sugar loaf” I stopped to watch two great black backed gulls (I think they were, anyway!). They appeared to be having a conversation. It seemed mostly one-sided with one being very earnest and outspoken. At ...
