Enquiring Ear

Field recording and found sounds

Tag: wildlife sound

  • Spinney Birdlife

    There’s a spinney nearby, so over the holidays I got myself into the tree and rigged a pair of omnis, and stood really still. The first thing I heard was the mournful repeated tone of the collared dove, a steady counterpoint to the recording, with its mournful ho-HOO-hoo, with the stress on the first syllable. Later on the woodpigeon appears, with its ho-hoo-HOO-HOO-ho-hoo, and there are various other birds flitting around in the undergrowth.

    It was a very windy day, so there is a lot of wind noise in the trees, which adds atmosphere for me, reminding me of a special moment with the birds

  • Nightingale on the heath

    My bike ride to work takes me past open fields and for a short stretch over some sandy heathland. I was surprised to hear a nightingale in the distance – I had to stop and listen to the lovely sound

    this was recorded using an omni MP3 recorder so it’s not a fantastic species recording, but it captures the moment for me 🙂 The singing males have come all the way from Africa, and they have scouted their territories. They are hoping to call the females down from the sky as they arrive a couple of weeks later. It feels surprisingly early to hear nightingale song at the moment.

  • A Vee of Geese overflying Southwold Pier at dusk

    I was recording the waves at Southwold pier as darkness started to fall. The air was still enough to give it a go without being taken down by the sea winds.

    Suddenly, in the distance I hear the sound of geese, and a massive vee of geese pass overhead, possibly a hundred birds in all

  • Christchurch Park Mistle Thrush

    In Christchurch Park in the centre of Ipswich near the Mansion, there was this mistle thrush giving off the football rattle sound, a welcome piece of wildlife in the town centre on a freezing day. Somehow the city sounds in the background give him some edge, even though it’s hardly a classic species recording.

    The sudden boost at the end is the bird diving off to take up some issue with a bird in a yew in the graveyard

  • Swans taking off, Grundisburgh

    It’s not that easy to catch the beginning of swans taking off, but these took off while I was recording near a reservoir at Grundisburgh, with the ungainly splashing and creaking of wings.

  • Nightjar on Blaxhall Heath

    Nightjar on Blaxhall heath
    Nightjar on Blaxhall heath

    The mating call of the nightjar is a very strange churring sound, usually made around dusk, hence the ropey photo. The sound is eerie, as most other birds have stopped by the time this call is made. The claps are wingbeats.

  • Sparrows Chirping In The Rain

    One of about twelve sparrows I saw, sounds like there were many more in the flock.
    One of about twelve sparrows I saw, sounds like there were many more in the flock.

    1 min continuous chirping

    There’s something about rain that brings out the chirp in sparrows. I counted 12 of them, but the sound of this lot in the ivy and elder bushes sounds like a lot more. Why do sparrows all get up a chirp when it rains?

    recorded from Maplin electret inserts on tree at 44.1kHz PCM  to a PC via mic preamp. High-pass filtered from 440Hz at 12dB/octave to reduce traffic noise

  • Swifts

    A parabolic dish isn’t the right way to try and capture swifts flying low. I’ve got better at swifts as time went on – this was an early attempt and you just can’t track them with a dish