This recording was made during the trip to Lapland in the beginning of July 2013. We found a nice quiet place for tents by the lake Inari. Only after that I discovered that there were Black-throated Loons (Arctic Divers) on smaller part of the lake. They were not very vocal, but in the morning I succeeded to record their calling and water-splashing. This was a very special opportunity for me and I enjoyed this morning immensely. It was first time for me to hear loons calling.

Arctic Divers on Lake Inari

Two nutcrackers stopped above my head, one of them being noisy and loud, other one just fooling around... 
Spring is in the air! 27. February 2022, Tähemaa, Estonia.

Spotted Nutcracker being loud

5 AM, still in the darkness of mid-March morning, a pair of tawny owls starts vocalising at their would-be nesting grounds. They are probably still in courting phase. Female was desperately calling all through previous evening and male repeatedly approached. In the morning, first thing they did was passionately-sounding lovemaking...  At least that is my interpretation of the audio  recording. 
13. March 2022, 5 AM. Meoma, Estonia. Unattended recording (12 hours). Dogs and rooster in background.

Tawny Owls In Love

Swifts were feeding on a small lake, catching flying insects. I put the microphones near their flightpath. You can here them from time to time swooshing past the mics.

Swift action

The flow of sounds is slowing down, bat echolocation emerges, it gets distorted, human speech and concept of communication interferes with acoustic world of bats.

Musing on bats

Vainurästas, laulurästas, tikutaja ja teised

Forest clearing near Nihujärve lake. Whooper Swans vocalise before taking off and heading elsewhere...
Other birds: Woodlark, Tree Pipit, Song Thrush, Wood Pigeon, Cuckoo, Eurasian Jay.

2. May 2022, Estonia

Morning soundscape with Whooper Swans

Evening and night on a bog-island in Emajõe-Suursoo. The fading of birdsong, midnight barking of a roebuck and purring of a Nightjar is compacted and blended into a 15-minute mix.

Into the Night / Õhtust öösse

The echoes of Eurasian Cranes are bouncing from forest edges in countryside landscape of Rõuge parish, Estonia. It is a distant corner of southern Estonia with only a few farmhouses in sight.
The song of skylarks is filling early morning spring air, goldfinches and a northern wheatear are vocalising nearby, looking for a suitable nesting site next to a small country house and several old oak trees. Other birds in the recording: wood pigeons, eurasian cuckoo, willow warbler, crow.

Spring morning soundscape in southern Estonia countryside

Countryside morning in Southern Estonia, 13th June 3:25 AM

Yellowhammer and Red Fox

The close action of a pair of Ural Owls was so fascinating that I failed to notice the display of northern lights. 3.03.2024, Saueaugu, Estonia.
The noise from Tallinn-Tartu high traffic motorway.

Ural Owls and Northern Lights

I often leave my sound recording gear outside for overnight when I am at my country house. This spring I was happy that a pair of Great Grey Shrikes built a nest in a tree in the garden. It seemed that they tolerated my occasional visits and female was already incubating the eggs in beginning of May. Then a tragedy struck. Apparently a raven spotted their nest and you can hear two minutes of desperate calls and fight of shrikes. It happed during early morning hours, so I didnt see it but its on the recording. During the day, shrikes had disappeared but in the evening one of them was around, making tentative contact calls as though looking for partner. It even sat next to a blackbird on the wire as to seek substitute companion.

Raven robbing Great Grey Shrike's nest

It might be strange, but this is my first decent recording of Common Frog (Rana temporaria). For some reason I have mostly seen Moor Frogs, although they must be both very common in Estonia. Yesterday evening I was out to record evening soundscapes but it was too windy. On my my way back home I saw a lot of frogs on the road and I checked a familiar ditch in hope to hear some frogs. There were many toads there but also in a shallow pond a happy bunch of common frogs. Luckily the place was mostly protected from wind and I put the tripod with SASS in shallow water. After 15 minutes frogs didnt mind the tripod anymore and started calling again. You can also hear the faint creaking sound of Common Toads in this recording. Recorded on 22. April 2015, 23:10.

Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

Throwing pieces of ice on ice. Slowed down.

Ice on ice

Common Spadefoot is a toad that calls under the water. In Estonia it is quite rare and for me it was first time to record this species. I tried different techniques but omnis worked best. Tried also hydrophones but in this pond the toads were too difficult to get close enough  with these. Actually I like a lot the overall added rural soundscape effect - mainly cows in background :).  

Common Spadefoot calls in rural surroundings

Recorded in august 2002 in Alam-Pedja nature reserve, Estonia. My companions were so excited that ruined rest of the recording with whispering :)

Wolf howling in Alam-Pedja forests

Sounds of frozen lake Peipsi in Estonia, 7. January 2017. -18 °C

I was recording with both ORTF and SASS setup but one of the AT 4022 mics in SASS was crackling. So this is ORTF with 2xMKH8040. Zoom F8.

Icequake

Today I spend the night and morning in a bog, with the hope to record Black Grouse courtship game. A friend of mine had set up two tents for photographing them and let me to use one tent for sound recording. Unfortunately it was too wet and tight in the tent and I nearly drowned my gear. The game started just at the moment when I realized my situation. I retreated farther away and recorded there with the parabola. Besides the grouse there were curlews displaying and calling. This sound is quite rare nowadays and I enjoyed it a lot! I also discovered that sound is also quite interesting when slowed down.

Eurasian Curlew - call at normal speed and slowed down 4 times

A soundbit from my recent travel to northwest Greece. After the evening rainshower the sky cleared up and I got some hope for a recording session at the Vikos gorge. I had abandoned my original plan to descend in the gorge and spend couple of days there, as the rain kept on and the danger of slippery paths and falling rocks outweighed the chance of successful recording. Not to mention the fact that rain itself ruins it.
I set up my tent on the hillside at the edge of canyon, in hope of getting the reverbs of owl calls. Here you can hear the mellow chorus of crickets, some distant hoots of Tawny Owls and also the purring of Green Toads (Bufo viridis) which carried surprisingly well over the distance.
I must say that Vikos is not the best place for recording evening ambiences - the density of airtraffic is intolerable. This is the longest bit without plane noise I got from this evening and night. But I am still happy with that :)
At the edge of Vikos gorge near Monodendri in Greece. 
10. May 2018, 21:26.
2xMKH8020 (in DIY SASS), Zoom F8.

The track is also featured on this album: https://estlander.bandcamp.com/album/pindus-soundscapes

Album in Spotify

Nightfall at the Vikos gorge

It is still dark when a single Black Grouse starts calling on a forest clearing. Morning chorus from nearby forest is getting louder as birds are joining in one by one. A Woodcock can be heard when flying over the clearing and making strange croaking sound. Other birds in the recording: European Robin, Song Thrush, Cuckoo, Song Thrush, Eurasian Nightjar. 1. May 2012, around 4:15 AM, near Koiva (Gauja) river.

Black Grouse with morning chorus

Segments from a 90 minute recording by Kirna brook, Estonia. 30. April 2012, recording started 4:43 AM. 

2xAT4022 in SASS resembling setup. Fostex FR2-LE.




Morning by the brook

Track samples from the album "Spring in Padakõrve". Album tracks have been recorded during 2015-2018, in one of the natural forest areas in eastern Estonia. In these sample clips you can hear White-backed woodpecker, Greenish warbler and other birds in May morning, Ural owls and Roe deers in April evening. 

On album, all the tracks are blended into one continuous listening experience. Enjoy!

Spring Padakõrve

Buy in Bandcamp

Kevad Padakõrves - Spring in Padakõrve

Night in Matsalu nature park in May 2017. It is past midnight, most songbirds have paused the singing (except Thrush Nightingale) . Geese and ducks are occasionally flying over, probably looking for a safer spot for staying overnight. Distant sounds of dogs, cows, roedeer, long-eared and tawny owl carry well over the vast floodplains. You can even hear a munching beaver by the river.  I am not sure but stomping sound can be a strutting moose, there were plenty of them around.

I had several night recording sessions in Matsalu during spring 2017, but they were often plagued with sounds of dogs and cows so mostly I couldnt use the recordings for what I needed. But just for listening the acoustics of the place they are quite good :)

Heed no nightly noises

Edit: While I was recording winter ambiences in Emajõe-Suursoo, a sound like the howling of pack of wolves was heard in distance. My first impression was that it really was pack of wolves but later learned that it rather was howling of huskies. Someone is raising huskies in this remote area and is riding sledge through the landscape with these dogs from time to time. 
30. December 2018. Near Ahunapalu, Estonia.

Huskies howling near Ahunapalu

A track from the CD with recordings from Alam-Pedja nature reserv (in Estonia). Got finally the whole CD online and also able to sell copies by post. Free DL of this track in bandcamp, mp3 320.

Thrush Nightingale singing in the night

Moor Frogs (Rana arvalis), some Common Frogs (Rana temporaria) and Common Toads (Bufo bufo) are singing in spring evening. Robins and Blackbirds accompany them. Padakõrve, Estonia. 20. April 2019.
Pair of MKH8020 in DIY SASS box, Zoom F8.

Loodushelid

Spring frog chorus. 20. April 2019

Recorded on 21. may 2019 near Korakas, Crete
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/25632159

Cicada Oligoglena carayoni

My recorder picked up this peculiar sound while doing unattended recording in North-East Estonia, near Russian border. No settlement nearby, so cat is unlikely source of this sound. 20.8.2019, 23:58

Mystery sound from Estonian forest

Night in forest. Somebody is skulking in undergrowth and making eerie sounds. At times it feels like a possessed child or even Gollum is lurking in dark forest...

Boreal owl and waves of Peipsi lake in background.

23. May 2020, 1 AM. Peipsiveere, Estonia.

Edit: It is most likely a pine marten. I had another recording with visual contact and the sounds were pretty similar.

Creature of night

Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) drumming in coniferous forest. Alajõe, Estonia. 10. April 2020, 6:32 AM.

Musträhn, Black Woodpecker

Freezing wind on lake Peipsi, Estonia. 
16. January 2021.
-18 degrees Celsius.
MKH 8020, DIY SASS.
High pass, EQ.

Winter soundscape

Biologist, naturalist and field recordist based in Estonia. 

"Sights and sounds of nature are fascinating, I try to capture them both on photos and sound recordings. Unfortunately the diversity of nature is fading away,  I hope that showing the beauty of nature will slow down the merciless destruction of nature by humankind."

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