The Bureau of Meteorology had forecast a very calm night and morning for Deep Creek. They are usually fairly accurate; but even while still a few kilometres away, on the way there, it was quite obvious that BOM had got it rather wrong. Never mind. The fact is that this southern coastal region is far more often wild and windy than it is calm and still. Strong winds and ocean roar: this is just how it was. It's remarkable that the birds can make themselves heard, but they do. And there were many of them: many species, and many individuals. This recording certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea. But for the natural record, it is as it is. And that is how I love it.

An unattended recording. Good quality headphones (preferably open-backed) are recommended.

Recorded on the land of the Ngarrindjeri peoples.

2023.07.15 A Mid-Winter Dawn Near Boat Harbour Beach

2024.01.01 New Year Fireworks

Geophones, hydrophones, contact mic and 6 omnidirectional microphones

Notes
As the light diminished, the volcanic palette undergoes a kaleidoscopic transformation, revealing an iridescence a spectral shimmering.

The sands embody the ethereal interplay of otherworldly pigments that defy earthly conventions.
Listening with multispecies ecologies: volcanic rock pools teeming with life , hermit crabs, Black Sea urchin, Goby and Shrimp, with tides crashing nearby. Human perception and language too limited to describe these multiplicitous worlds.

Using  geophones to  convert ground movement (velocity) into voltage, in attempt to pick up subterranean vibrations. The deviation of this measured voltage from the base line is called the seismic response and is analysed for structure of the earth.
In this majestic Canary Islands. We discovered alien, enigmatic volcanic landscapes, lava fields and magical caves and art by Cesar Manrique. An island carved and shaped with creativity and art.

Speculative Field Trip: Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote

Amidst the quiet calls of Chestnut-crowned Babblers, in this unedited excerpt from an overnight to morning recording, the singing of the Grey Shrike-thrush falls into two sections: in the first, the Shrike-thrush repeats a single familiar call, while in the second, it improvises more freely and lyrically. Some (not all) of the other birds heard include:  Australian Raven, Crested Bellbird, Emu, Galah, Grey Butcherbird, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Striated Pardalote, Weebill....

Recorded with a pair of large-diaphragm condenser omnidirectional microphones in AB array with 62 cm spacing, with the microphones raised high on a lightweight lighting stand.

Recorded respectfully and mindfully on the land of the Meru and Danggali peoples.

Track image credit: Grey Shrike-thrush © Glenn Pure 2024 (https://birdlifephotography.org.au/). Used with permission.

2024.08.10 Grey Shrike-thrush with Chestnut-crowned Babblers. Morning. Winter's End.

I wanted to find a small, ultralight, but well-built tripod that could support a lightweight microphone rig and could efficiently be stowed inside a backpack with camping and recording gear. I decided on the Vanguard VEO 3 GO 204CB (carbon fibre) tripod. It folds down to 34.5 cm and weighs only 0.81 kg, but it can support a load up to 3 kg. It is well-designed and well-made. I was very happy with the purchase, and looked forward to using it in the field on my first test trip (on Kangaroo Island). I didn't know, until I received the package, that although Vanguard is a US-based company, the tripod was manufactured in Myanmar.

On the morning after an overnight recording (04.12.24) at Snake Lagoon, Flinders Chase National Park - not the first overnight recording I had made - I immediately noticed that the rubber handgrip on one of the legs had been mauled and damaged, but was still attached to the tripod. Listening back to the recording, I was able to hear the culprit in action at 11:49 pm.

After another overnight recording in Cape Bouguer Wilderness Protection Area, in the morning (10.12.24) I found the handgrip so badly mauled and shredded that it basically came off in my hand when I touched it. I noticed that two of the rubber leg-extender tightening rings had also been partly chewed, but they were still intact. The recording revealed three separate attacks during the night: the first at 11:36 pm, the second at 12:04 am, and the third (the longest and most severe of all four attacks) at 12:58 am. Listening to the recordings, my attention was drawn to the sound of sniffing: it seemed that the creature, whatever it was, must have been attracted to the smell of the rubber handgrip and tightening ring grips - but, despite all of that mauling and chewing, it very evidently had not actually eaten any of the rubber! It had merely shredded it. Presumably, the rubber didn't taste as good as it smelled.

When I got back home, a little research disclosed that Myanmar has become one of the largest natural (plant-derived) rubber producers in the world. At first glance, it might seem that natural rubber must be more 'eco-friendly' than (petroleum-derived) synthetic rubber - especially in an industrial carbon-driven climate change context; an assumption feeding rapid growth in natural rubber production. But on closer inspection, it's not that simple. The growing natural rubber industry is a well-known cause of deforestation, biodiversity loss, pollution, and various socio-economic and political issues.

The assumption that natural rubber is the 'clean' answer to synthetic rubber is, essentially, as it stands, false. It falls into the same category as the (equally false) assumption that electric vehicles are the 'clean' answer to petrol-driven vehicles. For example, the ever-increasing insatiable drive for critical minerals required for electric batteries for such vehicles is threatening and already harming more and more formerly protected or untouched natural environments, and the species and cultures that depend on them. Laws are being 'reformed' to make access to such environments easier for the industries that crave to exploit them, ostensibly in the name of saving us from 'climate change'.

It seems paradoxical to argue that the need to tame 'climate change' should give us licence to further destroy nature. What are we really trying to protect, here? Obviously, not nature. And, arguably, not exactly humanity, as such, either. Rather, it seems more plausible (if not obvious) that the main concern is to protect a familiar political economy that is predicated on constant growth. The economy that destroyed half of nature getting itself to its present global status has now been granted the perfect excuse to destroy the other half of nature to keep itself alive and growing.

The animal attracted to the natural rubber on my tripod brought to my attention yet another aspect of a familiar (global) dilemma, and a new (local) dilemma.

2024.12.04 & 10 Natural Rubber: A Double Dilemma.

Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules 3 touch-and-goes.

Original recorded in 32bit 96khz audio-stereo
Photo: Carl Perkins

Sets: aerobluesounds.bandcamp.com/

Original location recordings from the world of aviation.
High quality recordings with minimal background distractions.

C130J Hercules USAF - touch-and-goes

Recorded using a SASS - made by Marco pesente and zoom F3.

Wolf Chorus

Small lake near town and some grey herons on a tree - distant traffic and other urban sounds can be heard.
Most clips are raw files without EQ (in first i use it to remove aeroplane hum).

Sennheiser MKH40 and ZoomF6



Grey Herons near frozen lake

Jedes Jahr überwintern hunderte von Pfeifenten im Westoverledinger Hammrich. Nachts schlafen die auf dem Wallschloot ....naja schlafen kann man das nicht nennen. 

Tascam DR05X, Primo EM272, AB60cm, 48/24 wav converted to 48/16 FLAC, no editing in post.

Für die beste Qualität nutzen Sie bitte einen Kopfhörer. Viel Spass!!

Pfeifenten - 2025/03/06 - Wallschloot

Wolf Pack Passing (with vocalisations) 06/03/2025

Wolf Howling 06/03/2025

Audio Field Recordist and Photographer based in the South of England.

Original location recordings from the world of aviation, motor racing, nature, ambient life and vehicles.
High quality recordings with minimal background distractions where possible.
ORTF, X-Y, MS, NOS & Binaural recording methods used.

All audio recordings by Carl Perkins.

To purchase tracks go to:     https://aerobluesounds.bandcamp.com/

Please contact for commercial use.

C130J Hercules USAF - touch-and-goes

AeroBlueSounds

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