Sand martins 'tritting' as they come in and out of their nests on the peat banks that have formed on Cuilcagh mountain, due turf cutting by humans. 

Sand Martins are summer visitors, flying into the UK and Ireland around March and leaving in August. They nest in colonies and lay their eggs at the same time, giving them a higher chance in locating swarms of insects to feed their young. Their scientific name ‘riparia’ meaning ‘riverbank’, alludes to their traditional preferred habitat. However, sand martins have adapted to use various types of man-made excavations, as shown by this colony nesting on turf cutting banks.

Species: Sand martin (Riparia riparia)
Date and time of recording: 30 April 2021, 7.30am
Location: Cloghany, County Fermanagh, Ireland
Habitat: Blanket bog, Heather moorland

Gear: 
Sennheiser MKH 8040 on parabolic reflector
Sound Devices 744t recorder

Nikon D750 Camera 
https://amzn.to/43glcHo

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens 
https://amzn.to/3IArSGy

Tamron 150-600mm Telephoto Lens
https://amzn.to/3IFMFZE

Rode VideoMicro On-camera Directional Microphone
https://amzn.to/4acHdZJ

K&F Tripod 
https://amzn.to/3vcxjIQ

Sand Martins

Adult swallow in conversation with their partner who sitting on the nest inside a barn. The nest has 4 chicks a few days old. I monitored this nest for over a month. After the chicks were born there was this pattern of early morning (4-5am) chats with one of the adults going on long monologues, some over an hour long. Are these parental or couple chats, or perhaps they are talking to their chicks? Possibly both.

Species: Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Date and time of recording: 3 July 2021, 4.30am
Location: Arney, County Fermanagh, Ireland
Habitat: Farmland
Gear: DPA 4060 omnidirectional microphones. Dual mono recording onto a Sound Devices 744t recorder

Barn Swallow

Curious cows approaching on a spring Sunday morning in county Cavan, Ireland. Some defecating in there too :)

Cows Mooing Close

http://soundarkstudios.squarespace.com/blog/2014/8/22/sound-postcard-01-perito-moreno

Sound Postcard 01 // Perito Moreno

This is, to me, the bravest LBJ (little brown job) of all. During the breeding season Meadow pipits perform what is know as ‘parachute’ display flights, in order to attract a mate. It literally gives itself away as if singing ‘i’m all yours, take me!’ (or the peregrine falcon will…). You can hear the beautiful descending notes in this recording, made on a windy day.

Species: Meadow pipit (Anthus pratensis)
Date and time of recording: 16 March 2021, 9am
Location: Aghatirourke, County Fermanagh, Ireland
Habitat: Moorland

Gear: 
Sennheiser MKH30 and MKH8060 in mid-side
Sound Devices 744t recorder

Nikon D750 Camera
amzn.to/43glcHo

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens
amzn.to/3IArSGy

Tamron 150-600mm Telephoto Lens
https://amzn.to/3IFMFZE

Wildlife hide tent
amzn.to/3TCIkwo

Rode VideoMicro On-camera Directional Microphone
amzn.to/4acHdZJ

K&F Tripod
amzn.to/3vcxjIQ

Meadow Pipit of Aghatirourke

Holy Trinity Church bells ringing for the call to worship on Easter Sunday 2024 in Chapel Stile, Cumbria (UK).

Buy on Pond5

Church Bells, Chapel Stile

Lift off! This was spectacular beyond what I could have imagined. The starling murmuration at the Avalon Marshes in Somerset. Hundreds of thousands of birds departing from their roost on the reed beds. The numbers are hard to comprehend. First the silence - a timid chorus at this time of year - then the starlings start to chatter. Suddenly there is a build up of rumbling bass, like wind hitting the microphone or something about to erupt. Then the waves across the field, like ocean waves in the distance, both visually and sonically. And the lift off. The rumble becomes a satisfying silky carpet enveloping you overhead.

This repeats 3-4 times as different waves of departing starlings take flight. MAGICAL.

I edited 30 seconds at the end from when they've all left, to give perspective, so you can appreciate the decibels such a gathering produces.

Location: Shadwick Heath, Somerset, UK
Date and time: 25 February 2024, 7am
Habitat: Reed beds, Flooded plains

Gear (Associate Links):
Sound Devices 744T
Sennheiser MKH8060 and MKH30 in Mid-Side rig.
Nikon Z6-II https://amzn.to/4aWjeyZ
Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM https://amzn.to/4bmU24t
Sigma 70-200 F2.8 https://amzn.to/3Wpdrxu

Starling Murmuration Dawn Lift-Off

A skein of Barnacle geese - mostly migrants from Greenland where they breed - approach and land the 'Goose Field' at Lissadel's Ballygilgan Nature Reserve.

In Winter it's an essential grazing site for a large flock of Barnacle geese (c. 3000), the winter freshwater pond also attracts other waterfowl and waders, and a cereal patch at the east end attracts wintering finches and buntings.*

In this recording you can hear the geese grazing after landing:
https://soundcloud.com/angelpgrandi/barnacle-geese-grazing

Species: Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis)
Location: Ballygilgan Nature Reserve, Lissadel, Co. Sligo, Ireland
Date and time: 23 November 2021, 11h45
Habitat: Improved Pasture

Gear (with Associate Links)
Sound Devices 744T
Sennheiser MKH30 and MKH 8040 in MS configuration
Nikon D750 amzn.to/3UN0D1m
Tamron 150-600mm amzn.to/3UTV8xY
NIKKOR 28-300mm amzn.to/4c2gwb8

*Source: www.npws.ie/nature-reserves/sli…dell-nature-reserve

Barnacle Geese Approach

🏆 Winning entry in the 2023 Wildlife Sound Recording Society 2023 Richard Margoschis Documentary Competition.

“2023 was a big year of change for our family. We moved countries leaving behind the nest we’d built over 10 years. This piece was a way of processing our fleeting memories. Together with my two eldest daughters, we listen to and chat about the recordings I’d made of the swallows that visited our barn. We found parallels between them and us.

A huge thanks from myself and daughters to the WSRS for this award. Owls are a family favourite - don’t tell the swallows!”

Echoes from the Barn

Soundscape selected for the Dolby® Atmos Masterclass at the 2015 Berlinale Talents.

*The musical piece at the end was recorded by Duncan Whitley during his work at the Semana Santa processions in Seville: soundcloud.com/duncan-whitley/sets/la-madrug




DOLBY® Atmos Soundscape - Original 5.1 Mix (Stereo Downmix)

Family ties to Argentina make it a place I hold dearly in my heart. Fifteen years after my first and only visit, I was back. This time with a recorder in hand and a will to explore. 

This recording was made on the marshes that border the Paraná river, the second longest river in South America after the mighty Amazon.

You can hear Southern lapwings, or Teros as they are known locally, very common in these parts and all of South America except dense forests. Teros have benefited from the extension of open grassland habitat through widespread cattle ranching. The other predominant species in this recording are grasshoppers, one of the Tero's main food sources. 

You could say these sounds are representative sample of this vast green landscape. It is my submission to the BioPortraits project https://soundcloud.com/bioportraits led by Maria Emilia Pérez and Damián Alférez in Argentina, which aims to showcase nature through sound and science.

Species: Southern lapwing (Vanellus chilensis)
Location: somewhere near Zárate, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Date and time: 31 December 2009, 19:32
Habitat: River marshes, grassland
Gear: Fostex FR2-LE, Rode NT4

Southern Lapwing And Grasshoppers

10 minute of a summer storm approaching as the bees buzz and the birds sing.

Species: Bees, Dunnock, Blackbird
Location: Kilteen Glebe, Mackan, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
Date and time: Friday, 8 June 2018 at 13:52
Habitat: Farmland

Summer Storm

Skeins of Greylag geese join a small group of Cormorants on the lagoons behind Snettisham beach.

Species: Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), Greylag goose (Anser anser) , Robin (Erithacus rubecula)...
Location: RSPB Snettisham, Norfolk, UK.
Date and time: 19 October 2024 at 17:47
Habitat: Brackish lagoon

Gear
Zoom F3
Sennheiser MKH 8060 and MKH 30 in Mid-Side

Greylag and Cormorants

Waders in their thousands run out of beach as the incoming tides pushes to take flight.

Species: Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), Red knot (Calidris canutus), Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria), Pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus)...
Location: RSPB Snettisham, Norfolk, UK.
Date and time: 19 October 2024 at 18:27
Habitat: Mudflat, salt marshes, coastal

Gear
Zoom F3
Sennheiser MKH 8060 and MKH 30 in Mid-Side

Dusk Spectacular

Waders in their thousands moving about on the lagoons behind Snettisham Beach

Species: Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), Red knot (Calidris canutus), Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria), Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), Pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus)...
Location: RSPB Snettisham, Norfolk, UK.
Date and time: 19 October 2024 at 20:00
Habitat: Brackish lagoon

Gear
Zoom F3
Sennheiser MKH 8060 and MKH 30 in Mid-Side

Dusk Spectacular Lagoons

Waders in their thousands punctuated by Egyptian geese honking, on the lagoons behind Snettisham Beach.

Species: Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), Red knot (Calidris canutus), Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria), Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), Pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus)...
Location: RSPB Snettisham, Norfolk, UK.
Date and time: 19 October 2024 at 21:17
Habitat: Brackish lagoon

Gear
Zoom F3
Sennheiser MKH 8060 and MKH 30 in Mid-Side

Dusk Spectacular Egyptian Lagoons

Wind over Titchwell marshes as Storm Ashley reached the UK. It was too windy to record anything but.

Location: RSPB Titchwell, Norfolk, UK.
Date and time: 20 October 2024 at 07:07
Habitat: Marshland, coastal

Gear
Zoom F3
Sennheiser MKH 8060 and MKH 30 in Mid-Side

Wind Titchwell Storm Ashley

Fallow deer rut at Holkham Hall estate in Norfolk. It was a very windy day as Storm Ahsley made landfall in the UK. The rushing of leaves made for difficult recording conditions but the experience was made all the more dramatic for it. in this recording you can hear more the does making their characteristic bleating sound.

Species: Common Fallow Deer (Dama dama)
Location: RSPB Titchwell, Norfolk, UK.
Date and time: 20 October 2024 at 18:30
Habitat: Managed estate Forest and grassland.

Gear
Zoom F3
Parabolic dish with Sennheiser MKH 8040 and MKH 30 in Mid-Side

Fallow Deer Bark and Bleating

Fallow deer rut at Holkham Hall estate in Norfolk. It was a very windy day as Storm Ahsley made landfall in the UK. The rushing of leaves made for difficult recording conditions but the experience was made all the more dramatic for it.

Species: Common Fallow Deer (Dama dama)
Location: Holkham Hall estate, Norfolk, UK.
Date and time: 20 October 2024 at 18:47
Habitat: Managed estate woodland and grassland.

Gear
Zoom F3
Parabolic dish with Sennheiser MKH 8040 and MKH 30 in Mid-Side

Fallow Deer Rut Storm Ahsley

Got greeted by this lovely songster at Tiraroe Quay, as I was about to embark on a mini expedition on the Lough Erne Upper.

Species: Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
Location: Tiraroe Quay, County Fermanagh (Ireland)
Date and time: 09 May 2024, 09h22
Habitat: Grassland, Lakeland

Gear
Parabolic dish with Sennheiser 8040
Sound Devices 744T recorder

Blackcap of Tiraroe

On a bright and sunny mid-March day, the pond is warming up with sounds.
This is my most detailed recording of Corixa punctata (aka Lesser water boatman) to date.

Can the Lesser and Greater families be told apart through sound alone? Please let me know. What seems clear is that it is possible to discern between some lesser varieties, as demonstrated by Marco Presente in this recording:
https://soundcloud.com/marco-pesente/micronecta-sp-lesser-water

**The sounds get really loud and right at the peak of the Fletcher-Munson curve so please take care of your ears**

Species: Lesser Water Boatman (Corixa punctata)
Location: Middle Spernal, Warwickshire, UK
Date and time: 19 March 2025, 13h30
Habitat: Freshwater pond, wetland

Gear
Aquarian Audio A5s, Zoom F3

Water Boatmen

Black Crickets (Gryllus bimaculatis) also known as Mediterranean field crickets. Recorded in captivity at the London Zoo, using a pair of DPA4060 omnidirectional microphones.

Individual pic by Bj.schoenmakers (CC0 1.0)

Black Crickets

Underground recording of Pachnoda marginata peregrina (aka sun beetle, aka Congo rose chafer, aka taxicab beetle) larvae in captivity at the London Zoo.

Larvae of many Coleoptera (beetle) families possess stridulatory organs. Stridulations are actively produced sounds for communication created by rubbing together certain body parts*

It is still (March 2025) unclear why beetle larvae produce these sounds, though communication (attracting mates or warning other insects) is the prime theory.

Gear
Aquarian Audio H2A hydrophones, Sound Devices 744T recorder

Larvae pic by Biotropic (on Flickr.com) CC 2.0

*Görres, CM., Chesmore, D. Active sound production of scarab beetle larvae opens up new possibilities for species-specific pest monitoring in soils. Sci Rep 9, 10115 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46121-y

Beetle Larvae Song

Species: Willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)
UK Conservation status: Amber
World: Least concern (trend: decrasing in numbers)
Location: College Valley, Cheviot Hills, Northumberland, UK
Date and time: 20 April 2025 at 06:10
Habitat: Decidious plantation, moorland

Gear: Zoom F3, Sennheiser 8040, parabolic dish, Nikon z6ii, Tamron 150-600mm

Willow Warbler of College Valley

Tawny owls bid farewell to the night, as the first songsters begin to call. This moment just before the first songs begin has sometimes been referred as First Blush. The forest acoustic space goes from relative silence to full symphony in the space of a few minutes, recorded here for International Dawn Chorus Day 2025.

The crackling sound is not rain (or fire!) but honey dew, I believe. Would love your thoughts on that.

Main species: Tawny owl (Strix aluco)
UK conservation status: Amber
World: Least Concern (population trend is stable)
Location: Spernal Park, Warwickshire, UK
Date and time: 4 May 2025 at 04:38am
Habitat: Ancient forest

Gear: Zoom F3, Sennheiser 8040 and 30 in MS

Last Cry of the Night

Hammering Blacksmith

Residential smoke detector beeping.
Sound - https://www.pond5.com/sound-effect/63362445/smoke-alarm-beeps.html?ref=SoundArk

Smoke Alarm

Gusts of wind whistling through a window crack. Great for establishing cold windy mountain scenes.

Wind Whistle Howl

Vintage car/lorry horn used in countless cartoons and 60s movies. Comedic, nostalgic and cartoonish feel. This one in particular recorded from a Ford Canadiense 4x4 in Argentina.
Sound - https://www.pond5.com/sound-effect/67942552/classic-klaxon-truck-horn.html?ref=SoundArk
Pic - http://mla-s1-p.mlstatic.com/ford-4x4-canadiense-ano-1943-con-direccion-hidraulica-317511-MLA20596933137_022016-F.jpg

Classic Klaxon Truck Horn

Traveling by train through the hill country in Sri Lanka, I was getting ready to record some interior rattle when the children started singing the 2010 FIFA world cup K'naan song. It took us over 7 hours to cover 200k so thanks for the entertainment kids!

Kids Sing FIFA 2010 Song Inside Train Carriage, Sri Lanka

Hi! I'm Ángel, Sound Artist and Field Recordist. My inspiration is the natural world. I run SoundArk. offering Audio Production and Post-Production services. I'm based in the United Kingdom, and have been lucky to travel the world through my trade.

www.soundarkstudios.com
angel@soundarkstudios.com
 
#SoundDesign #FilmSoundDesigner
#FieldRecording #WildlifeSound #WildlifeSoundRecording #SoundEffects #AudioPostProduction #LocationAudio #LocationSound #Filmmaking #GameAudio

SoundArk. | Ángel Pérez Grandi

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