This is a recording of some interactions on a black grouse lek in the highlands of Scotland. 

It was recorded with a Sony M10 and a matched pair of Clippy EM172 mics.

AVIEMORE  - BLACK GROUSE LEK - EARLY MORNING - VERY CLOSE COOING AND HISSES 2.0 M10

Early morning by little Rengaskari Reef, less than a mile from our shore. This is an excerpt from an over night recording. Had to do a low cut as there's been some low rumble from an unknown source that has affected all nightly recordings of this spring from the sea side. (and is still audible)
Birds: Common Eider, Greylag Goose, Barnacle Goose, Mew Gull

Updating www.rupuranta.net

(MKH8020 ab80cm, MixPre II 32>24, Flac)

Morning by Rengaskari Reef - 20/4/2021 - Makholma Finland

Of Light And The Sea

On Saturday, 12 November 2022, South Australia, including the whole Adelaide region, experienced an uncharacteristic extended storm of unusual intensity. Several storm fronts, arriving from the NW over St Vincent's Gulf, hit Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula. The storm has been described as "one of the strongest thunderstorms in recent memory",* causing flash flooding, wind gusts exceeding 100 km/h that tore down huge gum trees (many of which crushed houses, cars, and electricity lines), as well as flattening giant electricity pylons, leaving around a hundred thousand people without power. 

This recording, made in the Adelaide Hills (near Norton Summit), captures a sample of the first and mildest storm wavefront that day. (The recording begins at 10:30 in the morning. This abridged version selects two excerpts from the longer recording, chosen because of the poignant presence of bird calls audible between the peals of thunder. The highlighted parts of the spectrogram in the track image indicate the passages from the longer recording that were selected for this abridged version.) The microphones sheltered from the fairly light rain underneath a 'sweet pittosporum' or 'native daphne' tree (Pittosporum undulatum), native to southeastern Australia, but a 'declared plant' in South Australia ('a woody weed invading native local vegetation', due to widespread ornamental planting).

Travelling farther south immediately after this recording, I was able to intercept the next two storm wavefronts, which were far more intense. Although the storm was utterly awesome and spectacular (lightning bolts plunging into fields, exploding thunder tearing the atmosphere apart), it was impossible to find any spot from which to record the storm, because it brought with it an abundant lashing downpour of rain and wild tree-tossing winds. All the shelters in the state forests had iron rooves: the rain battering the rooves was deafening, drowning out even the peals of thunder.

In the end, I could only just sit and experience it. Which, after all, is the very best thing to do, with Nature. (Most of the time, at least. Not recommended when it gets this violent. Although I have to say that this was truly a very beautiful and awe-inspiring experience; and, personally, I'm very glad to have been out there to witness it. I'm also contemplating possible recording solutions, in case this ever happens again... Enraptured by thunderstorms as a spatial music of nature. All that I have said, here, is the simple truth.)
__________________________________________
*https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/why-the-adelaide-storm-was-so-intense/925471
https://www.sapowernetworks.com.au/data/313806/12-november-storm-update-from-sa-power-networks/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/18/australias-indigenous-people-call-for-seat-at-table-at-cop27
__________________________________________
Recorded with respect upon the land of the Kaurna people.

@Bandcamp

2022.11.12 Storm above the Hills. Late Spring. (Excerpt)

A recent Spring Dawn in the Queets Rainforest inside the Olympic National Park
The air is cool and the light is filtered through a canopy of Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir, Pacific Chorus Frogs crowded in an ephemeral wet-spot seemingly don't know if it's day or night as they sing around the clock here. The river sounds like a soft pillow in the distance, a dull roar that is more comforting than disturbing, fading away behind a biophonic meditation.

As twilight dawns with First light, local birds join the the chorus with the frog. Varied Thrushes with their nasally mysterious alarm-like cry. Pacific Wrens who seemingly believe that everyone needs to hear what they have to say. Song Sparrows with some of the happiest song ever to delight. A Chestnut-backed Chickadee that inspects the microphones, pulling little tufts of the wind protection to pad a nest. Northern Flickers and Chipmunks compete to see who has the best chatter.

All the while, the frogs continue on in cycles of chorused and cycles of silence, punctuated only by the occasional encounter trill or inquiring contact croak.

Northwest Soundscapes

Queets Rainforest, Vernal Dawn Chorus With Frogs

El conjunto del canto de ranas del Zarzal o trepadoras (Hypsiboas pulchellus) genera una obra sonora natural, acompañada de grillos y el sonido del mar.
En su etapa de reproducción su llamado es muy sonoro, metálico y musical, producido por la rápida vibración de las cuerdas vocales que se amplifican por el saco vocal.

//ENG
The singing of the Zarzal frogs or climbers (Hypsiboas pulchellus) generates a natural sound work, accompanied by crickets and the sound of the sea.
In its reproduction stage, its call is very loud, metallic and musical, produced by the rapid vibration of the vocal cords that are amplified by the vocal sac.


—
Grabación de campo realizada en un charcal a orillas de la
Playa Bello Horizonte, Costa Azul, Uruguay
05-04-2023 02:00 AM

Concierto de Ranas del Zarzal

During the first week of September 2023 I returned to Palupohja in the Alam Pedja reserve in Estonia for a short break before the autumn really begins and the days become short and cold.  Early in 2020 I was booked to go but then Covid struck and I had to cancel the trip.  It was good to meet up again with fellow wildlife sound recordists Andrus Kannel and Veljo Runnel and also Robert who runs the place.  I was booked-in for only a few days so I didn't want to be weighed-down with equipment so I brought only the Sound Devices - MixPre3 and the Tascam X8 recorders and a pair of Lewitt 440 and a pair of Primo EM272 microphones. 

A few years ago I was there in August from about the 8th to the 14th, I recorded mainly cricket choruses in the evenings and early nights, I recorded also in the early mornings but didn't get many recordings, at least not enough similar recordings to make any new production.  Very diverse recordings are hard to put together in a way that would sound like they were all made at the same time of day.  This trip however, though I only got about six hours of recordings, they are very alike and when I got home I was pleasantly surprised what I was able to make of them, the quiet background in each made it easy to cross-fade from one recording to the next.  I would like to thank Andrus for the lift out to the reserve from Tartu and his help with the name for this production.  Hilissuvi is an Estonian word that basically means the time of year that is the late summer and also the early autumn.  There is no English word for it. 

For the moment I will leave it as a free download but when I  put it on my Bandcamp page I will have to uncheck the free download box.

Hilissuvi (1) New Album

When it comes to recording, 2023 was an odd season, my trip to Sweden was not successful from a recording point of view, then at home I have two main recording locations, Ballinvally and Rosahane Graveyard, for various reasons the recording in Ballinvally was not very successful, however the trips up to the graveyard were much better and I am very pleased with those recordings.  I love the purity of the silence there, the birds even seem to sing more beautifully in the uplands for some reason.  Maybe it has something to do with the air being more thin at altitude.   All these sounds were recorded with Lewitt 440's and usually a Sound Devices MixPre3 recorder.

The Uplands - Morning (1).

This is a long recording from a ridge near the ocean, so the surf is in the background, there is bird and animal activity at dusk and dawn, and a big thunderstorm rolls in.  The Yellow-Throated Toucan is very active, and the Scarlet Macaws, Tinamou, and Mantled Howler Monkeys are also calling at dusk. I removed one section of a few minutes where the rainfall was so heavy it started leaking through and hitting the mics but otherwise left this recording intact.  I used my Sennheiser Double MidSide system with a Sound Devices MixPre recorder.

Dusk To Dawn Costa Rica Osa Peninsula Coastal Forest Thunderstorm

I am on bandcamp.com now
Two Thrush Nightingales in song.  Recorded at night beginning at 2.05am on the 20th of May 2013, in Soomaa National Park, Estonia.  This is the third of three recordings.  Some months ago I uploaded this same recording but a shorter version in 44khz/16bit, this recording is the full-length 48Khz/24Bit version.  Equipment; A matched pair of Sennheiser MKH8020 microphones, a Sound Devices MixPre microphone pre-amp and a Marantz PMD661 solid state recorder.
Recording 2502.
To help you find my other albums, here is a list of the names of the albums as sound cloud is not structured in such a way as to make it easy to find material that is a long way down or at the bottom of the page, so it is easier to search for the albums if you know their names, here is a list.
Put any of these names in the search bar and press enter.  
Central America . . . Belize.
Garden of songs.  	Forest Home.	  Out of the blue.
Jungle report.	Wild enough.	  Na Luum Ca - revisited.

South America . . . Brazil.
Xixuau   (2 disc production).
South America . . . Guyana.
Karanambu.	   Iwokrama.
South America . . . Peru   (4 disc production).
Otorongo.     	  Tahuayo. 
Europe . . . Finland.
Natures Song.	  At the blue moment.
Europe . . . Estonia.
Soomaa.
Europe . . . Wales / Ireland.
Morning Birds 3.	
Europe . . . Ireland.
Morning Birds 1 and 2.	  The joy of birdsong.	  Birds of the great Saltee.   Saltee Revisited.		Songs of silence.		Aubade.
More Suburban Birds.		 Suburban Birds (This one was never uploaded to sound cloud).

2 Thrush Nightingales - The 48khz/24Bit version

This recording was awarded the Silver Fox 2018. The Silver Fox is the overall winner of the annual competition of the Wildlife Sound Recording Society. This is the long version of the recording - the competition entries are allowed to be max. two minutes long.
Recorded 2017 at the Amazon Refuge Lodge in Loreto, Peru. 2 x AT4022 omnis in an Olson Wing array.

WSRS Silver Fox Award 2018 - Afternoon by the Lodge

A cabinetmaker by trade.  I have been recording birds for over 40 years.  Even as a seven year old I loved to hear the sound of birds. 
I believe that birdsong is a perfect reflection of the natural environment and yet a part of the experience of the environment.  
Over the years I have made some wildlife films and videos.  For wildlife recording I have been around Ireland, Wales, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Belize, Guyana, Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica. At the moment I have 26 albums of birdsong/nature, most of which can be found here for free download in high quality F.L.A.C. format.
  
Birdsong is Spiritual Medicine,
a Natural Treasure 
and a Companion to Silence.

The Uplands - Morning (1).

Fintan O'Brien

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