La matin, lever du jour. Les premiers froids de la saison. Les Grues cendrées, dans un charivari sonnant de salutations, reprennent leurs ascensions vers les aires d'alimentation aux alentours, en ce moment les résidus des champs de maïs. Vocalises des Corneilles noires, du Rougegorge familier, d'un Pouillot véloce, des Pinsons des arbres et même le chant lointain d'une Bouscarle de Cetti. À vos casques !
MixPre-6-II sur powerbank et microphones Earsight

Hautes-Pyrénées

Daily departure from the Cranes

Départ des Grues cendrées, lac de Puydarrieux un 7 décembre 2023

From dusk to dawn with two pairs of cranes and one or two single male contenders. In this recording you will hear almost infrasound (80-200 Hz) growls and heavy panting as the males chase each other in the wetland and of course the trumpeting of cranes through the night. An amazing experience to be this close. Huddunge, Uppsala. April 9, 2024.

Mixpre 3ii + Lewitt 440 Pure in ortf

Cranes like you never heard them before!

On hour without interruption at dawn at the Etang des Landes (Creuse, France). Already many bird species for the season. Water birds, then when the light comes on, a few forest birds. Small mammals rummage through tufts of dry grass near the microphones. In the distance, sometimes, flocks of birds take flight like a low hum.

Recorded on March 9, 2025 with a Nagra LB and a pair of Sennheiser MKH8020 in AB.

One hour at dawn at the Etang des Landes (Creuse, France)

Cette semaine, retour en France dans le département de la Lozère, sur le lac de Charpal. C'est une retenue d'eau douce servant à alimenter en eau toute l'année la ville de Mende. Situé à 1326m d'altitude, il gèle une grande partie de l'hiver et devient un lieu magique pour écouter et enregistrer les chants du lac. Un mélange subtil de craquements, d'explosions et de crépitements du au soleil qui agit sur sa surface comme sur une peau de tambour.

VSN013_FRANCE_Lac de Charpal_F Deroussen

Now is the time to listen for drumming woodpeckers. In this recording I have mixed all woodpecker species that drum regularly in Sweden. Three drums each and in the following order: great spotted, lesser spotted, white-backed, three-toed, grey-headed and black. Green woodpecker almost never drums.

Recorded in Uppland 2022-2025.

Drumming of all Swedish woodpeckers

Owls and foxes have an excellent breeding year so far this year. I hear Tawny Owls almost "everywhere" and this male and female were courting each other last night and paired at least twice (the high-pitched chirping). 

Uppsala. March 19, 2025.
Zoom F3 + Clippy EM272

Pairing Tawny Owls

On a bright and sunny mid-March day, the pond is warming up with sounds.
This is my most detailed recording of Corixa punctata (aka Lesser water boatman) to date.

Can the Lesser and Greater families be told apart through sound alone? Please let me know. What seems clear is that it is possible to discern between some lesser varieties, as demonstrated by Marco Presente in this recording:
https://soundcloud.com/marco-pesente/micronecta-sp-lesser-water

**The sounds get really loud and right at the peak of the Fletcher-Munson curve so please take care of your ears**

Species: Lesser Water Boatman (Corixa punctata)
Location: Middle Spernal, Warwickshire, UK
Date and time: 19 March 2025, 13h30
Habitat: Freshwater pond, wetland

Gear
Aquarian Audio A5s, Zoom F3

Water Boatmen

Athene Noctua - Chouette Chevêche 250306_1853

Rififi chez les chevêches, le verger se trouvant à proximité d'un stade...

Athene Noctua - Chouette Chevêche 250306_1933

The small forest pond had almost dried up after a long summer without much rain. Perfect conditions for egg-laying Blue Hawkers patrolling the pond edges. In this recording you will also hear a family of Long-tailed Tits visiting the pond for a drink. In the end a Sparrowhawk flies by and all tits flee (Crested Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit).

Högbyhatt, Uppsala. September 1, 2025.
Zoom F3 + Clippy EM272 spread 1 m apart

Blue Hawkers and Long-tailed Tits

Pelophylax

Capteur de sons - https://xeno-canto.org/contributor/JCPKCBKKAQ

Départ des Grues cendrées, lac de Puydarrieux un 7 décembre 2023

Olivier Swift

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