A droprig recording of a foraging family of Wild Boars in a nature reserve just outside Uppsala. It was good that I put up the mics and recorder high up because the Wild Boars showed very much interest in the strange human smells. Vargmyran, Nåsten. September 7, 2023

A family of Wild Boars

There is nothing worse than recording in perfect conditions all day but then realising that 'perfect' doesn't exist, as I simple could not escape the sound of man. Wherever I went, even far from roads, it just seemed like a day that every farmer in the country was using his loudest machinery, but for this moment, I had a brief brake where everything just stopped, long enough for me to capture this relaxing moment on the coast. 

Gear: Sound Devices MixPre 6 ii + Schoeps Stereo Mk 2's  

Goldcliff High Tide Shoreline - MixPre-7764_01

This moment was infuriating as hours went by and I just waited and waited till a nearby farm shut the hell up for a moment as I wanted to capture the woodland nuts falling all around me. Literally the forest just sounded like it was raining nuts and seeds with barely a breath of wind. Whilst I was waiting I watched a number of Grey Squirrels enjoying said nuts and they weren't prepared to share so there was lots of vocal territory marking like this.  

Towards the end you'll notice his mouth sounds full, that's because it was haha, the entire time his mouth was full of nuts but by the end he couldn't resist chowing on a few, but not without still calling at the same time. 
Gear: Sound Devices MixPre 6 ii - Schoeps Mk 4 Inside Telinga Dish + Stereo Mk 2's

Grey Squirrel Autumn Bounty - MixPre-7824

I've always struggled to get a good recording of these guys as the dynamic range between the subtle percussion and their loud piercing trills is quite large. The best recordings I've heard of these have actually been close up microphones, which I hope to try one day but for now, this is about as good as I've managed to get so far. Only a few mimicry phrases I can pick up in this one, the most obvious being that Jackdaw but lots of Gull sounds in there too. 

Gear: Sound Device MixPre 6 ii - Schoeps Mk 4 inside Telinga Dish + Stereo Mk 2's

Starling Song Mimicking Jackdaw and Gulls - MixPre-7775

2025.04.10 Still Life: Glossy Black Cockatoos. Kangaroo Island.

2025.04.10 Still Life: Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. Kangaroo Island.

artist : BERTHELOT
title : Ouverture des anecdotes polyedriques en fracture cosmique
album : Les Anecdotes Polyedriques
earS084 / 2016
https://archive.org/details/earsheltering084
A propos des Anecdotes polyédriques :

Comme son nom l'indique plus ou moins directement, cet album est un ensemble d'anecdotes sonores à géométrie variable, une suite d'anecdotes agglutinées les unes aux autres pour former des histoires vraisemblablement plausibles.
Anecdote de trente secondes ou anecdote de deux minutes, elle doit trouver sa place dans la trame intemporelle de l'histoire en devenir (je dis intemporelle car la rigueur métrique et métronomique n'a pas sa place ici), et surtout donner à entendre une sorte de cohérence dans le collage sonore.
Décrire toutes ces infimes anecdotes reviendrait à faire un inventaire à la Prévert, et, vu le temps magnifique, je n'ai pas le désir de le faire, la promenade me tentant plus que tout état des lieux phonique.

De retour de vadrouille, je reviens à mes anecdotes qui, pour simplifier à l'extrême, sont forgées de sons de percussions et des bruits d'un piano disloqué (oui, de bruits, car l'état de l'instrument déglingué ne permet plus la restitution de sons harmonieux; ça ne me dérange pas, j'aime bien les bruits).
Pour s'extraire de la schématisation extrême susnommée, on trouve aussi des anecdotes électroniques saupoudrées de voix improbables, et des anecdotes humides de par leur nature "field recordings" (ou "enregistrements de terrain", mais ça sonne moins bien).
Le plus délicat, et c'est là qu'intervient la glu, a été de transformer cette accumulation de sons hétérogènes en un polyèdre gracieux découpé en six anecdotes substantielles.
Mais, n'hésitons pas une seconde à effacer ce texte anecdotique pour nous concentrer plutôt sur ces sons et la musique en résultant, de préférence avec un casque audio de bonne qualité.

Album enregistré par temps clair en Eure-et-Loir (Juillet 2016).
Peinture par Hieronymus Bosch; détail anecdotique de l'Enfer, partie droite du triptyque "Le Jardin des délices" (1504).
Photo par Ironside. Design par Graph'Hypnotic.

BERTHELOT_-_Ouverture des anecdotes polyedriques en fracture cosmique

Are you Free?

This was one of at least two Black-and-white Warblers in Fojo on this day. It had been subjected to quite a lot of playback, and this coupled with the fact that there really was a 'rival' present made it very feisty and reactive. One a few occasions it actually sang, a first for an American warbler on Corvo, as far as I have been able to find out. It was difficult to get a good recording with excited birders and a film crew all capturing images and moving to get the best angle etc, but here are two of the four strophes it gave in the longest song sequence I heard.

Black-and-white Warbler song, Corvo, Oct 2025

This was the second Baltimore Oriole of the day, but we only heard it. The bird may have been reacting to a Yellow-billed Cuckoo nearby, which was occasionally calling (responding to playback). 

Baltimore Oriole, upper Cantinho, Corvo, 12 October 2025

Just going thru some files from the spring and forgot to post this one. Likely because it was too short, the bird sadly flew off. I could have recording this combo for hours though with that cuckoo in the background too. 

Gear: Sound Devices MixPre 6 ii / Schoeps mk 4 inside Telinga Dish + Stereo Mk 2's

Willow Warbler - Cuckoo Cast MixPre-7706

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

A family of Wild Boars

Bo Söderström