This bird has a very distinctive voice but I would need my bird expert, Martin Humphreys, to identify it for me.
I thought I was getting better at bird identification from their songs but it seems there doesn’t need to be much of a gap in practice for the knowledge gained to all go out the window.
This post is pretty much just what it says on the tin!
Using the excellent RODE recording app for iPhone (though not their iPhone mic) I got, precisely, the sound of the wind in the marsh grass when out walking in the evening recently. I held the iPhone right in amongst the grasses which had the added advantage of muffling the sound of traffic on the motorway as well as stopping the rumble effect of the wind directly on the mic.
These field recordings on their own are not going to be for everyone but I enjoyed listening to the changing sounds of the grasses as the wind strength changed and find, as with the recording I do for StillWalks videos, that the sound does so much to help visualize the memory.
Click the first image or play button to play the video and enjoy part of the Galloway, Scotland coastline.
Click the second image to enlarge.
I arrived at Penllergaer Woods at 4.45 AM last Saturday morning for a production day that took a little over six hours before returning to download the content of my cameras and field recorder. The day went well but I am still suffering from the midge bites I got for my trouble.
I started out with a preliminary scout around the valley floor and watched the sky lighten, the moon fade and listened to the birds wake up.
Here are some of the preliminary shots I got along with the dawn chorus.
Pre-dawn, Penllergaer Woods
Pre-dawn, Penllergaer Woods
Sunrise
Moon Reflection
Moon Reflection
Spring was late this year but that was not the case when this StillWalk was produced in Clyne Gardens, Swansea. Click the image or play button below to view the StillWalk and hear the numerous birds.
StillWalks videos are at their best when viewed in Full High Definition. You need to buy the videos to see them like this but whether you do or not, they will always be most enjoyed if you follow these viewing tips:
The gardens feature many different colours but the white flowers have it in this post. I am not sure which tree the blossom in images 2 and 3 is from. Perhaps someone else does?
Magnolia Stellata
What blossom is this?
What blossom is this?
Rhodadendron / Azalea
Last Wednesday evening we went to Aberdulais Falls for the Green Routines exhibition opening which was about cutting carbon emissions.
Whilst there I took a couple of new photos and video clips on my iPhone which reveal some of the fascinating patterns of the drips thrown up by the waterwheel – they were mesmerising! Click to play the video below.
On Tuesday evening I was doing some equestrian photography of a small dressage show at Clydach Riding Club.
The judges of the dressage sit in their 4×4 to watch the riders and blow their horn to indicate that the rider should start. Every time they do this I jump out of my skin. On Tuesday evening I was recording some of the sounds of the show. These include the background sound of traffic from the A4067 but this could never drown out the birds.
I am sure the judges had a laugh when, with my headphones on as they beeped their horn, I very visibly jumped. I have toned it down in this recording.
And for the field recordists out there, you can hear more on SoundCloud.
The equestrian photography can be found on PhotoShelter.
Watch the “Woodland Walk” video below, if you haven’t already done so, and enjoy Pont Felin Gât at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. It is in the Summer collection of StillWalks but the video title says Spring . . . it was late Spring and felt like Summer!
Below are the last available photos from the video. These are available for sale at the StillWalks PhotoShelter site.
