Two hours before dawn the beavers are very active gnawing away. Also the bittern and toads continue their calls throughout the night. At dawn the full morning choir replaces the somewhat muted sounds with woodcocks, cuckoos, willow warblers, chaffinches, wood pigeons etc. 
Lillån, Färnebofjärdens National Park, Sweden. May 14, 2024

Zoom F3 + Clippy EM272 as tree ears

Dawn with beavers

From my forthcoming album "Oak and Ash" . Based on A.A. Cameron's strathspey and the Irish jig "Three Little Drummers"

Oak and Ash

Strathspey Drummers

It’s human nature for each generation to criticize the generation that preceded it, often using them as a convenient scapegoat for all that’s wrong in the world. The current large target is my own generation, the Baby Boomers. I recently overheard a group of young people—mid-20s—complaining at length about their belief that the Boomers constitute a waste of flesh who never contributed much to society. Respectfully, I beg to differ; this is my response, along with a plea to ALL generations to think twice about that conclusion.


Episode 289-The Generational Blame Game

This recording captures the delicate and rhythmic stridulations of aquatic insects, recorded using a pair of hydrophones in the river La Mimente in the Cevennes National Park in southern France. 

Recorded 08.08.2025
Zoom F3 + 2 x Aquarian Audio H2A hydrophones

Aquatic Insect Stridulation - Florac, Cevennes, France

In woodland surrounding the Ferme Des Cevennes near Florac, a lone Cirl Bunting sings from it's song post. I listened to this bird over several days, logging it's various song posts before heading out one morning to record. 

Recorded 08.08.2025
Zoom F3 + 2 x DPA 4060s

Photo credit: Paco Gómez (CC 2.0)

Cirl Bunting - Florac, Cevennes, France

This recording captures hundreds of Swallows as fed early one morning in a large tree, occasionally flying away collectively before returning again to continue feeding. 

Recorded 09.08.2025
Zoom F3 + 2 x DPA 4060s

Photo credit: Mildeep (CC 2.0)

Swallows Feeding At Dawn - Florac, Cevennes, France

A calming insect chorus recorded at night from within the vineyards of La Ferme Des Cevennes on the outskirts of Florac on a calm, moonlit evening. 

Recorded 08.08.2025
Zoom F3 + 2 x DPA 4060s

Photo credit: Bernard Dupont (CC 2.0)

Night Insect Chorus - Florac, Cevennes, France

This recording captures a group of goats feeding on hay in a large barn at the Ferme Des Cevennes. 

Recorded 07.08.2025
Zoom F3 + 2 x DPA 4060s

Goats Feeding - Florac, Cevennes, France

Just after dawn, this recording captures farmlife as day begins, with a cockerel calling intermittently and a group of sparrows calling from a nearby tree.

Recorded 08.08.2025
Zoom F3 + 2 x DPA 4060s

Dawn On The Farm - Florac, Cevennes, France

This soundscape was recorded from the top of a magnificant treehouse built in an ancient Chesnut tree in the forest surrounding the Ferme des Cevennes. We hear gentle summer birdsong as well as one of the farm donkeys calling out and resonating beautifully through the valley. We also hear a woodpecker pecking against a nearby tree.

Recorded 08.08.2025
Zoom F3 + 2 x DPA 4060s

Dawn In The Treehouse - Florac, Cevennes, France

Field sound recordist and archivist of vanishing sounds in natural Iandscapes. Highly commended in the Sound of the Year Awards 2024 - Best Natural Sound.

Dawn with beavers

Bo Söderström