trees silhouette

The Moon and A Mirror

I think the shot below is probably my favourite from my walk this week down on our local marshes during the sunset and moon rise. The flat water of the high tide filling the river and reflecting the fading light and lunar crescent like a mirror was so peaceful and calming.

The soundscape for the walk also reflected the evening peace, even with the backdrop of motorway traffic. The birds sang and along with the bubbling of a small stream flowing into the river, they allowed me to ignore the trundle of tyres on tarmac. The soundscape is in three sections – the outward walk alongside the river with birds calling from the trees across the marsh grass, the flow of water under one of the footbridges, and lastly the growing predominance of the birdsong again on my return journey to the park. It is at this point where a Song Thrush takes over and while it sounds as though there are several birds singing, it is in fact just the one.

You may want to listen to this through headphones but that might depend on where you are. When editing I mostly use headphones but try to make sure that the finished soundscape works well without them. On this occasion I had to use them as it was difficult to differentiate the sound of birds on the sound files from those outside my studio – it is a very nice place to work!

Click the play button for the sound file and then the images below to enjoy both at the same time.

Posted in birdsong, Nature, Photography, Soundscape, Walks and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

8 Comments

  1. Thanks for taking us to this enchanting spot, Alastair. The photo is magical with the sunset and moon and river. And I was completely dazzled by the audio clip. I liked knowing it was in three parts, so I could acquaint myself as we walked on. Really found the rush of water a full sensory experience. I loved just listening to the water and its full flow…this is something I rarely do, usually the eyes and vision are involved, too. Then the song thrush was absolutely wonderful. Reminded me of our northern mockingbird here in the States, with a full repertoire of so many cheerful melodies. I looked it up online and saw that it is a common bird in your region, and how lovely that must be for you. Thanks so much, always a pleasure, Alastair.

    • Thank you Jet. I am so pleased you enjoyed it. The song thrush is a wonderful bird but we don’t seem to have so many of locally now as we used to. I was very interested in your comparison with the mockingbird. I will have to go and look that up now myself.

    • Ah, now I have listened to the northern mockingbird and understand what you mean – it is wonderful and brought a big smile to my face. Thank you

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