Morning At The Lake, April 2023, 2 Schwarzkehlchen (Stonechat)

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

Gavin Vella

Reed Warbler And Sedge Interuption - MixPre - 6399

Werbeliner See bei Leipzig, 08.05.2023, 7 Uhr
www.bemtevi.de

Morning At The Lake, May 2023 (Lesser Whitethroat)

Enigmatic Grille

This is a recording of a mug full of water and two sticks of chalk. Chalk has a loud natural reaction when placed in water as the air escapes and bubbles out. Recorded with an Aquarian Audio Hydrophone and a Crank Sturgeon plasti-dipped contact mic inside the mug in the water and a Lom Geofon suctioned onto the outside of the mug. No overdubbing or Fx.

Chalk In Water -Hydrophone, Contact Mic, Geofon - Zoom F6

The sounds of a new day in the African bush. This album was recorded in Northern Tuli Game Reserve in Botswana and features the diverse sounds of birds and wildlife in an ecotone of mopane woodland and arid savanna.

Botswana: Dawn in Tuli Wilderness

Botswana: Dawn in Tuli Wilderness - Album Sample

Out of all digital recordings that I have made since 1991, this is the one I love the most. The bird is magic. 
Recorded with a Telinga stereo parabol and a Sony DAT TCD-D3 machine in June 1991. No filter.
You don´t need headphones for this track.

Whinchat

The sounds of wildlife at night in the African bush. This album was recorded in Northern Tuli Game Reserve in Botswana and features the sounds of some iconic species often heard at night in Africa's savannas and woodlands, including lion, leopard, elephant, Spotted Hyena and Black-backed Jackal, as well as nocturnal birds such as Pearl-spotted Owlet & African Scops Owl.

Botswana – Night in the African Bush

Botswana: Night in the African Bush - Album Sample

Chant des Grenouilles communes dans la mare de l'ESAT, à Saint-Ulfrant

Eure

Grenouille commune, Pelophylax kl. esculentus, à Pont-Audemer (27) Eure, France un 12 mai 2024

Nice to get a different song type here that I've not actually heard before. Slightly lower pitch but but the first note in the phrase is lower pitch again. Over-all a slower tempo also, focusing on a smoother bend rather than pumping out high pitch phrases. 

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

Willow Tit Song Type 2 - MixPre-7374

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

Gavin Vella

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