Ambient soundscapes

June 5 and the aspen leaves are at their crispest and the light summer breeze makes them sing :)

Quaking aspen

Not common to have 30 cm of snow so late in the spring. This is me walking in the snow.

Walking in thick snow

Hågaån has never had so much water as today after the heavy snowfall during the week. March 30, 2023.

Small creek overflowing after snow melts

Kvarnbo kvarn, an abandoned mill where grey wagtails breed, but today there was too much water even for the wagtails. March 30, Hågaån.

Waterfall by the abandoned mill

A change in weather is coming next week, finally some rain. Around lunch today some thunder announced the transition to more rainy weather. Our burmese cat called Cirrus can be heard in the recording when trying to avoid the approaching rain. Håga, Uppsala. July 28, 2023.

Lewitt 440 P in ORTF + Mixpre 3ii

Thunder and cats!

Thunder and rain in our garden and a blackbird continues to sing in the distance. Håga, Uppsala. July 28, 2023.

Blackbird singing in thunder and rain

For those of you who still can hear 10 kHz, you can enjoy (?) the wartbiters in between the thunderclaps and rain. This is something I used to closely associate to late summer in our garden but a couple of years back I sadly lost all frequencies above 10 kHz. Håga, Uppsala. July 30, 2023.

Wind, rain, thunder and wart-biters...

A long uncut version of a thunder storm with horses neighing and young tits calling before the rain intensified. Uppsala, July 30, 2023.

Thunder and horses neighing

Last week it has been raining almost every day, also with some nice thunder storms. The small creek close by has finally come back to life again after the presummer drought. Håga, Uppsala. August 4, 2023.

Water Is Life

August 7, 2023 and we are almost getting tired of the thunderstorms :).

Thunderstorm and rain (yet again)

Today I went to Hovs Hallar in NW Skåne to look for seabirds. At the same time I put out a droprig close to the shoreline to catch the waves and wind. I saw a nice summer plumage Pomarine Skua, a Great Skua and lots of Gannets. Hovs Hallar, Skåne. September 30, 2023.

Clippy EM272 + Zoom F3

Western gale

Minus 13 degrees C and the snow has a special crunching quality when walking. Håga, Uppsala. December 24, 2023.

Frozen snow crunching at every step

In cold winters, you can hear the sound of cracking in the forest. The sound doesn't come from animals but from tree trunks cracking when it's really cold. When the temperature drops, the wood shrinks and if the wood shrinks enough, the trunk cracks at the weakest point. The cold cracks run along the trunk as the wood twists. 
Nåsten, Uppsala. January 20, 2024.

Trees cracking in the cold (-25 degrees C)

The water level in Hågaån has lowered quite a bit recently and the ice is breaking up. Håga, Uppsala. February 7, 2024.

Ice breaking up

Lots of fallen trees in my home forest after the winter storms but this old pine (yes, photo shows a Norway spruce) never fell to the ground. It is lodged against another pine creating this creaking sound. Nåsten, April 19, 2024.

Zoom F3 + Mikro Usi Pro

Creaking pines

From my porch on 30 June, 2024. A total of 20 mm during the day.

Warm Audio 84 + Mixpre 3ii

A tranquil rain

I put out the drop rig to record owls but set it up during night and did not see that at the base of the pine was a wood ant nest. The recording was "ruined" by lots of wood ants going up the trunk during the night. Was unaware how much "noise" they create but it can perhaps be used as ASMR for relaxation :)

Nåsten, Uppsala. July 24, 2024
Zoom F3 + Clippy EM 272

(since all ants passed by only one of the microphones I converted the recording to mono)

Wood ants along a pine trunk

There is a wonderful pebble beach in the small picturesque former fishing village of Ygne south of Visby, Gotland. The wind was quite strong today so the sound of pebbles was not prominent.

Ygne, Gotland. December 31, 2024.
Zoom F3 + Clippy EM272

New Year's Eve waves in the Baltic Sea

Not a visual spectacle at all. In fact, nothing of the New Year's rockets could be seen but I have never before heard it as well as last night. Low clouds and light snowfall made the reverb excellent. 

Håga, Uppsala. January 1, 2025.
Zoom F3 + Clippy EM272

New Year's rockets in low clouds and light snowfall

Already in February the ice on the major river Dalälven separating northern from southern Sweden is about to break up.

February 28, 2025
Wildtronics stereo parabolic dish + Mixpre 3ii

The river ice rumbles

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

Ambient soundscapes

Bo Söderström