A sound approach to birding
Two days this week Alan has been guiding for a sound recordist working on wildlife programmes for the BBC. The brief was to record bird songs and calls, easy, right?
Seeing, or in Alan’s case showing someone a bird is one thing but trying to record the birds call is another. The first problem Pete, the sound man, and Alan encountered was noise pollution. It had never occurred to Alan before just how much background noise there was when watching birds. Their stop was an area of woodland just outside Conwy where great film footage of common woodland birds had been shot recently. The wood was ideal for filming, plenty of birds, easy viewing and access. The problem here was traffic noise. Despite being a good way from the road the wind was carrying the intermittent roar of passing cars and lorries to the microphone. No good they would have to try elsewhere. The next woodland Alan took Pete to was further from busy roads and no traffic could be heard once in the wood, perfect. Pete set up his gear and as luck would have it a Great spotted Woodpecker began drumming right above their heads. Pete hit record just a farmyard rooster declared the dawn with a rousing rendition of “cock-a-doodle-do!” repeated over and over again drowning out the woodpecker and any other wild birds! Luckily the rooster fell silent and the woodpecker drummed away, whew.
Next they tried a coastal wetland for Lapwings displaying. These beautiful waders tumble across the sky calling wildly as they proclaim their territories and advertise for a mate. It is wonderful to watch and listen to the displays. Here they two problems, a nearby railway line and RAF jet fighters overhead. It seemed the Lapwings all chose the moment when either a train was thundering past or a jet was screaming over-head to perform their best displays with wild calling. Incredibly frustrating, every time Pete hit record, something roars or thundered to wipe out the Lapwing calls. But patience won the day and eventually a great recording of Lapwings calling was in the can. The two days were great fun, if frustrating at times, and it taught Alan a lot about how noisy we have made our planet and how valuable wild places where no human sounds are!If you would like to join Alan for great birding just drop us an email and you can be seeing wonderful birds - info@thebiggesttwitch.com