This new StillWalk in Winter from Llyn Llech Owain, “Winter lakeside Walk” is one where I caught the early birds and the sunrise – not difficult when the days are so short.
I uploaded the walk just a week ago and it is one I really enjoy. I am going to put some photos from it on my blog through this week and would love it if people took a look at the video itself. Just click the link above or either of the images to go straight to StillWalks Winter Walks.
The StillWalks videos are free to view on a small scale but if anyone is interested in seeing any of them in full scale high definition, just contact me – the prices are on the website.
Yey! Listen to the Debbie Evans Arts Show on Radio Tircoed tomorrow (Friday) from 11 am – 12 GMT and you will hear me talking about StillWalks and the projects we do.
I questioned the accuracy of my studio clock yesterday morning because it said it was 9.30 AM but it felt and looked more like 7.30 to judge by the lack of light.
Today, however, we have had light again 🙂 After so much darkness and rain it was a huge relief and good for the soul. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the evening light and this Song Thrush was out to prove it as well – recorded on the new RODE iPhone app (not on their new iPhone mic though, that will have to wait a little while).
Click below to hear the Song Thrush I recorded this evening.
Travelling down to Falmouth last Friday was difficult and disappointing – there was mist all the way and so, as we crossed Bodmin Moor, we could see nothing of it. We were visiting Falmouth University with my daughter who thought the place was great.
Falmouth, despite the weather, was clearly a very attractive town. We had a walk about after our tour of the Tremough Campus and then enjoyed fish and chips for tea.
Staying overnight at Lizard Point Youth Hostel was fun! “It was a dark and stormy night” as we approached The Lizard along roads that became increasingly narrow and dark. It was only the light from the lighthouse (and the foghorn) that finally guided us to our destination. We kept our fingers crossed that the weather would improve by morning and in the meantime I enjoyed recording the foghorn.
If you don’t see the sound clips below because you’re viewing this in an email, then click the title to go to the blog or the individual links to listen to the Lizard Point set on SoundCloud.
Saturday morning did reveal much better weather which improved through the day. I had never been to this part of Britain before and enjoyed it immensely! I have included a few images below but there are 31 in all on Flickr all of which are available to purchase through the StillWalks PhotoBox site.
Lizard Lighthouse-1
Lizard Point Youth Hostel
A View from Lizard Point
Taking a Bow at Lizard Point
I might put a few more up in the next day or two 🙂
Last Friday night was a first for me – I found myself without a torch in our local park hunting for bats. It didn’t occur to me to take a torch but fortunately there were plenty of other people there to whom it had occurred and a great time was had by all.
Click here to listen on the blog to the sound of Common Pipistrelle bats in Coedbach Park last Friday night or here on SoundCloud.
Steve Lucas, Welsh Bat Officer with the Bat Conservation Trust gave a fascinating talk/slideshow about the various species of bats and their habitats until it got dark. Then we ventured out and were given bat detectors to use in the woods and along the hedgerows. We heard three different types of bat in Coedbach Park – Common and Soprano Pipistrelles and a Whiskered bat.
Seeing with Sound – The bat detectors respond to the very high frequencies bats use as their “sonar device” to detect and catch insects and “see” their surroundings – bats, however, are not blind. The frequency range of a Pipistrelle bat is around 45Khz (kilohertz). The range of the RODE NTG-3 shotgun mic I use for StillWalks recording (see the last blog entry) has a range that goes up to 20Khz and so has no chance of picking up the sound of bats!
The sound file above is a recording of the output of the bat detectors we were using made on my Edirol RO9 recorder – the hiss is mostly from the bat detectors but the sound patterns of the bats are quite clear. Adults and children alike were excited and fascinated to hear the bats at first hand rather than on a TV programme and I, for one, am looking forward to the next time.
Yr Allt, Fan Nedd and Fan Gyhirych are all on a walk I have done in the Brecon Beacons frequently in the past. That past is a long time ago now though and so when I took a day up there recently with my friend Mark, it seemed even better than my memory allowed.
Walking for pleasure was the main reasoning behind the trip but photos and sounds clips taken on the day can be considered a recce for a StillWalks production day later in the Summer.
Skylark – I actually managed to get a half decent photo of one of the many Skylarks up there and some of the sights and sounds from the day can be listened to and seen below. To view more of the photos, visit Flickr. If you can’t see the sound clips, click here to go to the blog.
