Enquiring Ear

Field recording and found sounds

Category: natural

  • Watersmeet – National Trust

    Watersmeet – National Trust

    Exmoor is a Dark Sky area noted for an absence of light pollution. Soundscapes are much purer1 too, and here at the footbridge to the National Trust’s Watersmeet House the rivers cascade over rocks to join heading west, finding their way to the sea at Lynmouth.

    A surprising number of people who cross the footbridge at SS743487 don’t look up from their phones to see the falls in the header picture. There is poor mobile reception at the Devon County council car park for the site (it’s not a National Trust car park) so perhaps they’re deep in the tribulations of the Ringo mobile parking app2. Reception seemed to improve for them by the bridge.

    The circular walk eastwards along the East Lyn river to the footbridge and back along the other side is a charming mix of little cascades and slower pools, one of these at SS752488 just before the footbridge has a totally different sound

    Watersmeet is a good soundwalk opportunity. I didn’t hear so many birds here, fair enough for midsummer, the forest gives me the feeling this would be a great Spring soundscape.

    1. Largely due to similar reasons: the low population density, but the terrain with deep valleys reduces acoustic spillover. Aircraft noise remains the usual pestilence, with Bristol Airport drawing it in. The terrain slightly helps with that, the high sea cliffs seem to shelter this a little ↩︎
    2. Coins are accepted OK, at the time of writing, take 50ps and 10ps as well as pound coins as it’s odd amounts and o change is given ↩︎
  • Cirl Bunting on the SWC path

    Cirl Bunting on the SWC path

    I was on the south-west coast path early on, and stopped to listen up what the hell was that? A sort of finchy rasp, not really that mellifluous but odd and out of place.

    It is indeed out of place, the RSPB set up a specific reserve for this bird, the first they created for a single bird species!

    I’ve heard corn bunting in Europe and there’s some sort of resemblance i nthe sound, but the RSPB says the cirl bunting is a close relative of Yellowhammer, which stacks up now I listen to this again. I never got to see this fellow, as I was recording it and didn’t want to flush the bird, it sound quite close.

    geographical location on aporee

  • early morning Bittern and Geese, Shapwick Heath

    early morning Bittern and Geese, Shapwick Heath

    An early start looking over the reedbeds for some magical birds, the low boom of the Bittern set against some geese.

    Shapwick Heath is reasonably quiet in the morning, a bit further way from busy roads that Westhay, and it’s nice that dogs are not permitted, due to the resident otters.

    Using the big rig, MKH30/40 MS, SD702 decoded to LR stereo

    geographical location on aporee

  • Geese flying overhead to roost

    Geese flying overhead to roost

    Corvids were the main attraction at Buckenham Rook roost, but they didn’t find their mojo. They lined up impressively enough on the wires near Buckenham station, Norfolk.

    but never really got to make that much of a din. I switched species allegiance to the geese flying overhead to their roost in an easterly direction on the marshes

    I’ve heard the corvids at full tilt in the past and this was a desultory performance. They build up their ranks as the year progresses. Maybe I was just that little bit too early in the year for them.

  • Hornets at RSPB Swell Wood

    I visited the Heron Hide at RSPB Swell Wood. There wasn’t much to see at the time, but I became aware of a disconcerting buzz. That didn’t sound like your average bee or wasp.

    I saw some inch-long insects and figured it was time to beat it PDQ. Not gonna argue with these bad guys.

    Olympus LS14 XY

  • Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff counterpoint

    I love the sound of willow warblers, for a long time I had only heard them in Scotland, where they aren’t so fussy about willow. When I lived in Suffolk I heard them very rarely.

    Somerset has plenty of willow on the Levels, and it has a good number of Willow Warblers with their lovely liquid song. Here one seems to be duking it out for territory with a Chaffinch

  • Ebbor Gorge, Somerset Dawn Chorus

    There’s a welcome reduction in aircraft during the coronavirus pandemic, which means our soundscapes aren’t scarred by the rumble of jets. I listened to the lovely soundscape unfold, with an extract from the early part of the chorus which is more sparse, the later part which is denser and richer in sound.

    It was a lovely expedition to a local nature reserve, and I am intrigued to sample other nearby soundscapes with less human-induced noise. The gorge helps shield the valley from noise, it will be interesting to see if this works on the Somerset Levels as well, which don’t have the protection of lots of limestone rock.

  • Cuckoos, Lake Vrynwy

    Cuckoos, Lake Vrynwy

    Lake Vrynwy is a RSPB reserve which has a lovely ambience and little noise pollution. Geese and cuckoos in the morning, from the south side of the lake

     

    AT8022 XY

  • birds and sea from the cliffs overlooking Beer beach

    Beer Beach
    Beer Beach

    The South-West coast path takes you high up on the cliffs overlooking Beer beach. A robin was signing, with a background of crows and the waves from a distance.

    Binaural, OKMII

  • Mill Stream Nightingale

    This has been a good year for nightingales

    but I was still surprised to hear one so close to the town, in an area very disturbed by dog-walkers.