A difficult bird to pin down as they're always singing at the top of the canopy of thick Larch or Spruce tree's. I couldn't even see this bird, but it was singing directly above me, 100ft up at-least.

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii / Schoeps CCM 4 / Telinga Dish / Lom Usi Pro's

Gavin Vella

Siskin Song - Mixpre - 3843

Thunderstorm woke me up at 6am so quickly got downstairs and recorded a few minutes with a Schoeps CCM 2 stereo pair.

Doorstep Thunderstorm MixPre - 4765

I wasn't going to upload this recording as the song got interrupted briefly by a Sedge Warbler. These two were squabbling a bit as the Reed bed they picked to breed in is on the small side, so they don't have a heap of space between their territories and it wasn't helped by the fact that the Reed Warbler was mimicking the sounds of the Sedge Warbler, so it was asking for trouble really. You can even hear the Reed Warbler mimicking its alarm calls right at the end, albeit, softer and quieter than the Sedge but it was funny to witness this heated interaction. 

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

Reed Warbler And Sedge Interuption - MixPre - 6399

Always a gamble turning up to 'twitches' in the hope to get sound recordings of the bird, but I had to make the effort when the location is that of Ham Wall, probably one of the most exotic soundtracks the Uk has to offer. I still struggled to get 2 minutes free of people talking or planes going overhead but with some editing this track was by far the best and bonus, I did get a lovely Bittern booming too. 

The bird! well what do I say, I've never heard or seen one of these before as they're rare vagrants to the Uk but safe to say I'll be making the effort again if we ever get another. They sound truly incredible and are so loud! 

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

Great Reed Warbler - MixPre - 6472

Another species that just seems to have another level of high frequencies to cut thru the thick scrub in which it spends most of its time. They do however like to sing from the top every now and again, which is a perfect opportunity to get pics and a recording. They do however do a little flight song display between each phrase but I had this setup on a mono pod so couldn't really keep following the action very well.

Sedge Warbler - MixPre - 6628

You've no idea how much I wanted the Meadow Pipit to finish its song lol. They usually do a flight display and with it a much more complex trill at the end, but it was nice either way to get one singing from a static post for a change. 

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

Meadow Pipit Perched Song - MixPre - 6892

Frustrating recording session today, with biting strong winds from the north, pretty sure my hands were frozen to the handles when I got back to the car lol. I always struggle to get decent recordings of Redstart. Last year I tried and the wind was a major issue. Finally the bird started singing from a decent spot, but not for very long. It was simply too cold. 

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

Redstart Song Short - MixPre - 6920

Always a pleasure recording these often endless performances in the reed bed and they seem to return to the exact same spots every single year, even in the vast reed beds, they all have their territories and they make sense of all the chaos. I listen to these performances and pick out all the British bird mimicry I can find but I can only imagine how many more species I miss. 

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

Reed Warbler - MixPre - 6938 9

We're quite lucky to have such a large breeding population of this species in Gwent. Elsewhere in the Uk they're not as common but they way they're increasing in number, I can see them overtaking Goldcrest at this rate. 

Gear: Sound Devices MixPre 6 ii / Schoeps CCM 4 Inside Telinga Dish / Stereo Mk 2's

Firecrest Song - MixPre - 7046

I've recently acquired another Mk 2 Capsule as I just love those omni's, they're so transparent and have such low noise, they're just extremely versatile. That said, just like any microphone, they each come with their own 'colour', or more so in this case, their own sound stage, with the cardioid pattern of the Mk 4 being much more punchy / mid supporting than the more open 'big' sound of the Mk 2 omnis. 

Now it's worth explaining here that I'm using 2 omni mk 2's outside the Telinga Dish also, so you're just comparing the bird sound here. 
I've applied my usual workflow, as the Mk 4 capsule does come with significant handling noise which I've become proficient at eliminating now but the Mk 2 capsule had absolutely zero handling noise, and that in itself can be a big game changer, so it's worth noting that. 

I will also be getting the Mk 21 soon, which is more of a wide cardioid and should in theory have slightly less handling noise than the mk 4 but will it sacrifice too much? 

It's all about the detail I find in this one, but those mk 2 capsules are so low noise, it also leaves room for boosting the highs in post to extract more detail in the highs. 

I'll let you decide which you prefer, but I can see the appeal in having both, as there are just some scenarios that each microphone capsule will bring something 'extra' to your subject, and that totally depends on the environment.

Wood Warbler - Schoeps CCM 2/Mk 2 - MixPre - 7039

Wood Warbler - Schoeps CCM4/Mk 4 - MixPre - 7037

My first Nightjar of the season whilst on an owl survey. Didn't expect to hear one churring to be honest, just after the Cuckoo's stopped too which is a shame as they combination of the two would have made a really nice recording. 

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

Nightjar 04.05.24 - MixPre - 7028 .WAV

One sound I've come to love as it brings me right back to the clear fells where Nightjar roam. They both seem to come hand in hand, sharing very similar habitat, even in heathland. 

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

Tree Pipit - CCM 4 - MixPre - 7056

I did get myself ready to go somewhere and get a better recording of this storm but it rolled in fast! I don't think I would have had time to get anywhere decent, so settled for my garden again which is not a bad thing as it enabled me to keep myself and my gear dry. 

Ignore the Garden.. it's a work in progress at the new house. 

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

Garden Thunder Storm MixPre - 7093

One sound I've come to love as it brings me right back to the clear fells where Nightjar roam. They both seem to come hand in hand, sharing very similar habitat, even in heathland.

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

Tree Pipit - Mk 2 - MixPre - 7095

Continuing with my comparisons between the Schoeps Mk 2 and the CCM 4 (mk 4). This was a challenging one as urban noises makes the comparison a little less 'like for like conditions' but generally if you listen to the bird quality over everything else you will hear a significant difference between the two. 

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

Willow Warbler - Mk 2 - MixPre - 7073

Continuing with my comparisons between the Schoeps Mk 2 and the CCM 4 (mk 4). This was a challenging one as urban noises makes the comparison a little less 'like for like conditions' but generally if you listen to the bird quality over everything else you will hear a significant difference between the two. 

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

Willow Warbler - CCM 4 - MixPre - 7072 01

I've tried my best to capture the sound of the levels in its current form. With a dwindling threat on the horizon in the form of a new Motorway, this place is becoming more and more precious by the minute. The low rumbling of a ship over a mile away is still prevalent during this recording and I've purposely kept it in to show you the difference before, and after the sound of man. At the end, all you hear is the soft bubble of the Cuckoo ending off the day. A Bittern by the beach was quite exciting for me but you have to love the chattery mimicking Sedge Warbler that has a slight edge for me as that tone and frequency is what I like to call, clarity. 

Wetlands Soundscape 5th May

I had hoped to get a full song this year but I never came across one in an area worthy of recording this year. Same with Linnet, I've heard plenty, but non in suitable recording spaces so it'l have to go on the todo list next season.

Goldfinch - MixPre - 1610 01.WAV

There isn't much singing now we're getting towards the end of July, but the dawn chorus was made up of about three species, a Robin, Wren and this lovely Goldfinch.

Goldfinch - MixPre - 2045 01.WAV

Goldfinches for me are the sound of summer, as even after spring they continue to sing, even after they've formed family flocks. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Goldfinch - MixPre - 2095 01.WAV

I didn't expect to get any more singing performances like this, this late in the summer, but I had a pair of male Greenfinches this morning on the Gwent Levels, trying to outperform each other along a main road. Thankfully it was at 5:30 am so no cars on the road.

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Greenfinch Song - MixPre - 2187 01.WAV

Such a rich quality to the Sedge Warbler and so complex, you could listen for hours and not get bored as they switch up their rhythms and melodies. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Sedge Warbler Song - MixPre - 1764 01.WAV

This beautiful Redstart was singing a little further away than I would typically like to record singing birds but the Mixpre's preamps are superb, giving you that extra range and the sound of the Telinga Stereo Mk 3 was still bright enough to pull out the delicaties of the song. You can even pick out individual mimicks used at the end of each phrase. I'll comment a few that I've picked out myself. 

Subject distance: 40m

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Redstart Mimics - MixPre - 943 01.WAV

This guy was torn between impressing a female and seeing off another male but the area was large enough for the two, so the odd 'woahaha' sound in the middle of the song seemed to be enough to keep the other male at bay.

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Cuckoo Wohaha - MixPre - 1639 01.WAV

I've studied Firecrest under license for the last two years, in the hope to learn more about their mimicking behaviour of Goldcrest, but in order to really understand more about their mimicking skills, I had to really understand Goldcrest and how they tend to string together their phrases. So this year I've actually spent more time recording Goldcrest than Firecrest, but that's hopefully a good thing in the long run. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Goldcrest Song  - MixPre - 1721 01.WAV

Male Wood Warblers can be quite easy to pick out in the forest as their song is quite loud and unique, but they aren't very easy to record,  as they're always on the move, rarely singing from a single spot for very long. This makes handling noise a particular problem and despite the Telinga handling it very well, I still needed to edit out a few bumps from my sloppy handling lol. Such an iconic sound though, described as the sound of a penny dropping on a marble slab. 

Gear:  Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Wood Warbler - MixPre - 1263.WAV

Such a perky little song, and not one that modern-age people are familiar with anymore,  as they're rapidly declining in the Uk. Their favoured gorse habitat is constantly being torn out or burnt, to make room for more grazing pasture. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Yellowhammer Full Song - MixPre - 1208 01.WAV

I've heard a lot of different types of Great Tit songs, and this is one of my more favoured, in that it's repetitive but still complex and pleasing enough for you to want to hear more. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Great Tit Melody - MixPre - 1106 01.WAV

One of my favourite birds, and despite not having much time with them this spring, the first bird I found in a non-study location, was showing signs of mimicking Goldcrest in an area where there was a close territory nearby of a Goldcrest and another displaying Firecrest in the background. He used it twice during this performance but continued to sing it more often in another take. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Firecrest Full Song - MixPre - 1102 01.WAV

I don't presume to know why exactly the subsong of many birds is usually way more complex in structure and usually sang in more of a linear fashion, much like a song you'd expect from a Reed Warbler or Sedge. In this recording, you'll hear two subsongs in amongst their typical short and sharp phrases but also note the volume difference. It could be that to be heard further, the short and sharp is more effective, but once a female or male is close-by, perhaps this is where their subsong comes into play? 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Common Whitethroat - Subsong & Song - MixPre - 1349 01.WAV

Pretty much the only reliable bird singing in the winter, so no two birds ever sound quite the same and on this crisp zero temp morning, the sound was travelling far distances, so even on the top of the mountain, the sound of the distant towns were echoing up the Valley. 

I boosted the lows to bring out the background levels more, as the Robin was singing quite close but in doing so, generally gives more of a flat frequency response whilst inside a dish, especially when subjects are closer and the background sounds are further away. The stereo image was evident here with the stream trickling away to my right. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Robin Mountain - MixPre - 2900 01.WAV

Even though this spot is historically good for Willow Tit, it's always nice to find them, but today I found 3, including this singing Male which was very surprising for this time of year. Stunning birds, can't wait to get a closer recording of this song as this was quite a distance away and I had to use noise reduction just to make this some what usable.

Willow Tit Song Distant Mono NR - MixPre - 3287.WAV 3

Still haven't come across a Robin that is prepared to sing for long enough to get a lengthy recording yet but I'm loving these little tasters of quality. Loving the sound of the Schoeps, it's such a warm, full sound that is so transparent, EQ doesn't even cross your mind in post, and that  says a lot inside a dish. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Schoeps CCM 4 / Telinga Dish / Lom Usi Pro's capturing the ambience in stereo

Robin Winter Song Short CCM 4 - MixPre - 3267

Slightly better conditions today as the sun was finally shining! or at-least it was as ten minutes later I got caught in a heavy shower, which was worrying as I didn't have anything to cover my gear over.. oops.

Finally got a Robin within decent range though and singing for longer than 30 seconds. Advantage using a monopod with a cardioid inside a parabola, you can stay still for much longer periods of time. Such a silky smooth sound to this Schoeps CCM 4, which does a great job at making this otherwise busy area, quite transparent and not distracting. I only wished it had a slightly better noise flaw, but that sound inside a dish is magical.  

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Schoeps CCM 4 / Telinga Dish / Lom Usi Pro's

Robin Full Song Magor - MixPre - 3337

The recording is not great, but I had to try and get something as it's a rare occurrence to actually get within close enough range to hear this shy bird's song. Unless there's a bird table involved, you don't really get much chance to get close to Jay's in the forest. I thought starlings were good at mimicking, these bird takes it to another level, mimicking Raven, Bullfinch song, Fieldfare alarm calls, Golden Oriole, Raven, Starling, Goldfinch, Herring Gulls, and the best for me was the horse haha. Absolutely brilliant, I can't wait to get the opportunity again. I couldn't actually see this bird, and the only way I could remotely get close to the bird without spooking it was to hide behind a crop of fur tree's which did me no good on my sense of directionality. Happy to blame the gear, but likely poor technique lost me this chance. Still getting used to using a Cardioid (mono) inside a dish...

Jay Mimicking Song - NR - MixPre - 3367.WAV 4

Firstly, I had to redo this recording, after discovering the 'Hiss Reduction' tool in Adobe Audition. Yes, it does add some weird artefacts but it's less noticeable than the official 'noise' reduction plugin which I believe is meant for a different purpose entirely but this reduction in hiss meant I was able to bump the overall gain 10db higher. I took out all the traffic on this one, to focus on those incredible vocals. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Schoeps CCM 4 / Telinga Dish / Lom Usi Pro's

Starling Mimicry Song - MixPre - 3255

I've heard some great mimics in my time, from species that you wouldn't usually associate mimicking behaviour from either. This is a great example of how Robin's use mimicry, as it's quite subtle and each mimic is performed with a typical robin like finesse with it's lose phrases and jazzy interpretation of rhythm (sloppy) lol. 

That said the tonality of the mimics are pretty spot on, so it gets a 7/10 from me. 

I'll comment the most obvious mimics, I'm sure there might be more mashed in there somewhere though. 

Dunnock, Blue Tit, Wren, Blackbird, Goldfinch and Siskin are the obvious ones. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Schoeps CCM 4 / Telinga Dish

Robin Mimic Song CCM 4 - MixPre - 3387.WAV

Revisiting this recording as I try to work out what my biggest highlight of 2020 was. This isn't it, but I was particularly impressed with the Telinga Stereo Mk 3 in this situation, as it captured the background very well considering how close the bird was and the reproduction of the bird song was fantastic with a full rounded sound and plenty of upper detail. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Lesser Whitethroat RV - MixPre - 1455.WAV

It's unbelievable that such a loud song can come from such a small bird.


Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Schoeps CCM 4 / Rycote Dish / Lom Usi Pro's

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