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Sound Recording

Spring Buildup

Just when I thought spring was arriving, we get hit with yet more rain and another cold weather front. It’s been such an odd spring so far, no doubt April has a lot of making up todo as March had to have been one of the coldest we’ve had for a long time. Reminds me of our last ‘beast from the east’ though, thankfully not near as much snow. Either way, birds are still very much gearing up for spring, some sitting on eggs already despite the cold and many migrants turning up. Below is selection of my spring so far, everything from spawning frogs, to late winter migrants, still holding onto that bitter end of winter.

I’ve been lucky to have a few trips this season (before the busy Bat season begins), one trip to Slimbridge which is always a pleasure, another to the Forest of Dean which is another experience I enjoy during the spring. Lastly more recent local trips to see some of our last Waxwing of the winter season and a wintering Black Redstart in Cardiff, which was epic.

Above you’ll also see some weirdly colourful creatures which is a story unto itself, as I discovered these Fairy Shrimp a few years ago now on the Gwent Levels, and as if that wasn’t awesome enough, I discovered more last night under the cover of darkness, which also revealed their incredible colours!! Something you do not get to see by daylight very well at all, but the direct light from my head torch revealed what looks like a bioluminescent-like colouration, with everything from electric blue to pink in the tips of their tails. What fantastic creatures. Fascinating lifestyle too.

Whilst on a nocturnal survey last night I couldn’t resist to record a snippet of the Displaying Lapwing and Wildfowl. One thing that many landowners forget, is that it's not what they see by day that really counts, as at night the levels come alive! Not just your typical Owl activity but many waders and wildfowl function throughout the night, whether it’s feeding, displaying, mating, you name it, they do it all under the cover of darkness. With birds also migrating at night, there’s a whole world of data that we are not truly picking up on. Right now, there isn’t a major requirement todo extensive nocturnal surveys for birds, but I would argue, especially for wildfowl, that nocturnal data should make up more than 50% of the survey effort. Nocturnal displays during the spring paint a far bigger picture for waders than any daytime survey possibly could, which is where static audio data could pave a way forward for ornithological studies. Not to mention, we’re not taking any nocturnal migratory species into account.

Take note of this displaying Lapwing. If you’ve heard one before, you’ll notice that this guy has what I can only describe as a ‘sneeze’ in the middle of its display. It’s quite adorable.

Will end with two landscapes shots of two lovely locations in Gwent, Cefn Ila Nature Reserve and The Blorenge.

Happy New Year

Well, considering my last blog was titled ‘I’m back’ all the way back in February, I wouldn’t take this blog very serious if it involves speaking about my goals for 2024, as they never seem to materialise lol..

As soon as the breeding season hits, my work load just skyrockets and I rarely get the time to do photography and sound recording anymore, let alone blog. We all need money though and without it I couldn’t do all these wonderful things anyway. Gear is so expensive these days and with constant new innovations, there’s always something to spend money on..

Photography


Below, seems like a lot of photos but most of these images were taken on just a handful of trips and most from the comfort of my garden for the latter half of the year.

Skomer Island was certainly highlight, which it always is, but every trip to the coast is uplifting.
Otherwise, I spent my usual free time over the summer months monitoring over 20 pairs of Nightjar and Long-Eared Owls, both for personal and licensed work. Overall though I spent more time searching new areas than I did re-visiting old ones. For instance I spent a fair few hours in search of Club-tailed Dragonflies along the River Usk, (with no luck might I add) but if you don’t look, you don’t find, and I’m not afraid of going home empty handed anymore. A recent trip to Whiteford point was a nice refreshing example of that for me, as I left the camera at home. It’s nice to be free of that pressure of ‘getting nice images’ and just enjoying yourself, being outdoors and taking it all in. Strip yourself back and leave the camera at home, it’ll do you the world of good. Oh, and buy yourself a pair of binoculars if you’re still relying on other people finding the good stuff for you ;)

New Home & Garden

Amongst everything else, the new house has taken priority above all this year, with so much that needs doing. The Garden being the biggest project left to complete, with every single bit of wood, completely rotten, so it needs to go. Some how though, I did find the time to dig a pond, which actually resulted in me getting a mega garden tick in the form of an Osprey!! lol. Would upload the phone video but internet is terrible here. So here are some funny progress pics instead and a screen grab of the Osprey.

Sound Recording

My sound recording journey this year really paints more of a picture of the seasons than any of my photographs do really. Even though I still wish I had more time for it, with sound, you don’t just need free time, you need good weather, so it’s even harder to find those windows of opportunity. Low wind is my friend though, no matter what the temp, even if it's wet, if it’s windy, it’s hard to work around with a parabolic dish.

The first recording of spring migrants for me this year was this Tree Pipit, at a time were there really wasn’t very many in the county yet, this guy was pumping it out on a clearfel.

Skipping ahead, it’s always nice to hear the sound of mammals. They’re a difficult subject to record as you may have one in front of you but there’s no guaranty you’ll get any vocals, so with mammals like this Water Shrew, you just have to make the most of the opportunity you’re given. This was during a Lapwing Survey on the Gwent Levels.

Whilst in full swing of the busy season, spring migration can turn up anything but I don’t think anybody was expecting a few Great Reed Warblers, and this has got to be one of my favourites of the year, even though I didn’t get a very good image, the sound recording was far more impressive and it’s not very often you’ll get a nice singing male performing like this in the Uk. Another first for me from Hamm Wall Nature Reserve. Does this beat the River Warbler from last year? I’ll post that recording below so you can compare ;)

This was always going to be a length blog… Below, an annual trip to hear the Nightingales at highnam woods is turning out to be a little bitter-sweat, as whilst I absolutely love hearing them, it’s so annoying that the woods are so close to the road and there really is no escaping that sound. If there’s one thing i’d love todo in 2024, it’s find a better location to record these fast declining species.

A few of licensed Long-eared Owl work this year

I think I’ll leave it there lol, trying to cram in what should have been several blogs into one but I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to at-least some of it. If any, listen to this garden warbler with a good pair of headphones. They’ve got to be one of my favourite songsters. That tonality just carries itself and needs no accompany.

In Our Nature CIC

Just a final plug for my business, ION is still doing really well and has been so busy this year, running weekly guided walks since April. The project ‘Take A Moment’ was granted in April and is running to April 2024! So if you haven’t got on the band wagon yet, check out our What’s On Page. We’ll be running plenty more specialist Saturday events too, with Fungi, Otters, Tree ID, Spring Flowers, Bird Song and many more that have been quite popular so far. Here’s some pictures of our events, mostly of the back of my head lol. Quite proud of the amount we’ve achieved this year, with the new house, ontop of all my ecology work in the private sector, Bats, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibian work. It’s been a crazy one, but all worth it.

Happy New Year all, hope you all have a fantastic 2024, especially if 2023 has been a difficult one for you. Now get outdoors and enjoy the planet before we screw it up even more!! The clock is ticking.

I'm Back!

Photography and Updates


Honestly, I didn’t realise I had that many readers but I’ve been asked quite a few times now why I haven’t been posting for a while, so here’s a quick update. I’ve been moving home over Christmas, which hasn’t been the smoothest process, having had todo most of the actual moving myself, with a herniated disk and two lumps on my spine, so that wasn’t fun, but it’s all done now! We’re settled in, just got a loong list of things to fix or replace on the new house but all doable work. Despite it being cold outside right now, signs of spring are really showing and I really wanted to focus on these signs this year, as for me, they are the highlight of this time of year.

A goal of mine has always been to record the sound of Frogs Croaking / Spawning, but I haven’t had the right location or a gap in the weather just yet, but I did manage to have a great photography session with my Amphibian specialist friend Michael Rodgers. I remembered an old spot that I had previous success from, so thought we’d give it a go and was shortly rewarded with several males and females popping their heads up to keep an eye out. Must admit these are some of my best Frog images I’ve ever taken, capturing them spawning, mating and croaking, painting a true picture of the atmosphere that filled the pond. I’ve thrown in a few images from my travels, usually between work breaks on the Gwent Levels, with Magor Marsh and my home Garden being my go-to break time locations at the minute. Despite several ill-health moments over Christmas, with Viruses, Shingles, and my usual health issues, I’m back at my ecology work, mostly on the Gwent Levels but in the uplands of Swansea soon too, not to mention the Bat season is fast approaching so it’ll all be chaos soon again!

Here’s the shortest video in history to make up for the lack of sound recording gear! That Croak is epic :)

Sound Recording

I’ve done very little this winter, as it’s been quite a windy one! Here’s a recording of 50mph gusts from the backdoor of my new home to prove it!

But still, signs of spring started quite early in the year, with short windows of southerly winds spurring some early spring songsters into action:

These last two recordings I’ll revisit in a future blog, as the mimicry in these two very different species of bird, is spectacular and whilst the Starling is very well known for mimicking, I think the Siskin can give it a run for its money!

This year I also intend on doing more ambient recordings, and I’m off to a good start with some Wave recordings at Goldcliff, and River Recordings along the Usk. These recordings directly tie into my Mental Health company called In Our Nature CIC, which I’ll give updates on also below.

Glad I brought the Dish on this river visit as further upstream there were two Oystercatchers chasing each other around, so I was able to continue recording the river sound with a stereo pair of mics, whilst also pointing my parabolic dish upstream to capture the echoing sound of the Oystercatchers as they flew up and down.

In Our Nature CIC

We’re kicking this year off with a bang! No thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund which has allowed us to continue offering our services to the public, totally FREE of charge. You can expect weekly walks, special events, everything from Birdsong Identification to Tree’s, Otters, Bats and Flowers, keep an eye on our website for more details or head over to our Facebook group. The project is called ‘Take A Moment’ which is a fitting title that encapsulates our message that we’re trying to send thru our company. We could all do with Taking A Moment this year with nature, as the mental and physical benefits aren’t just incredible beneficial to us, but they’re absolutely free!!

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Skimming over Summer

I’m back! For now.. Starting to realise that this is less of a blog and more of an account of how busy I am. This summer being quite an exceptionally busy one but even more so now that we have decided to move home! Probably the worst time to buy a house but also the best time to sell, as the market is very high at the moment. We have found a new home so provided everything stays on track, we’ll be looking to move before Christmas. Fingers crossed! Excited, but also very anxious, especially with the increase in energy prices..

What does this mean for me? Well, in the new house we’ll be building an office so I’ll have a more productive space to work from. More space in general, but despite being located not too far from where we are now, it is on the edge of the mountainside so we get closer access to what little wild area is left in Torfaen.. Having a patch that I can walk to from the house is quite beneficial to me and it’s something I’ve really missed since the loss of land at south Sebastopol, where 1600 homes are currently being built. It was a beautiful and still is a beautiful spot, but it had wildflower meadows that were full of Orchids, Butterflies, Grasshoppers, and even had specialist species like Glow Worms, Otter, Adders, Barn Owls, Kestrels and much more. So to see it gone right before lockdowns hit, we really felt trapped with no wild areas to escape to. Something that has proven to be quite important to my own mental health. Of course, we’re back to some sort of normality now so having my freedom has really helped. Despite the freedom, this year we really haven’t travelled that far, staying mostly local, with the acceptation of one planned trip to Skomer Island that Jodie organised for my Birthday, followed by a few more trips to the coastline as we got the taste for the sea. That was such a great trip and well worth the miles we racked up. I’ll include some images below from my travels and I’ll end with a few sound recordings from a new pair of microphones that I plan on using for scheduled sound walks in the coming weeks.

I’ll give some more updates of Nightjar season on a later blog, as it’s been a great season, even if I was too busy to enjoy the second half of it. For now, here’s some sound recordings of Great Green Bush-crickets and some soothing sounds of Waves from some of my trips to the coastline.

Here’s a slomo version of the sound circket, as the full speed recording is quite high pitched and sadly not all can here it anymore.

One for the headphones, especially if you’re struggling to sleep.

It’s been a stupidly dry and hot summer, so the sound of this rain was really welcomed!

Winter Summary

Well I can’t say that the Christmas season was ‘busy’ but after weeks worth of terrible weather in combo with doing my back in, I spent most of my time at home but so far the new year has brought a few windows in the weather, and despite the fact that the temps have dropped some what, with minus temps at night / early mornings, the sun has still been strong enough to spur on early signs of spring already! With lots of budding tree’s, emerging spring flowers, Butterflies on the wing, more singing bird species by the day and even nest building. I spent a few of the sunny days we’ve had so far with my Partner on some beautiful sandy walks around the Ogmore Coastline and some rather wet and muddy walks in the Forest of Dean: Two of our favourite places to be after experiencing a bit of cabin fever over the Christmas period. After a quick procedure in Hospital, I’m almost back into normal routine and I’m very much looking to get back to work and to enjoy the signs of the fast approaching spring.

For the photographers interested in gear, all bar the swan pics were taken with the 2x extender on the 400 DO ii / R6 and some even with both the 2x and 1.4x extender stacked ontop of each other. This combo wouldn’t even work on my 7Dmk ii but the focusing speed on the R6 is so good, it’s a combo i’ll be using more often.

Whilst winter is far from over just yet, I did have some winter goals which mostly included species I wished to sound recording. Top of the list was Dipper, which I did manage to share with you on my last blog, but I also really wanted to record Crossbill singing and with a bumper crop of cones this winter, it seemed to be the perfect year. My first attempt after a kick out of the door by my friend Craig Constance and here were the results: I got two close encounters with two different males below and also a recording showing their ‘excitement call’ which is said to reaffirm bonds between pairs, but in my observations, they also seem to use this call to alert other crossbill that they are grouping up to have a drink. You’ll notice this time of year that you get sometimes large flocks of crossbill all drinking together at a puddle and they do this together as it’s a time where they are most vulnerable to predators. Usually one or two Crossbill will remain high up in a tree with good visibility all around just to keep a watch out and once they are done, they usually split off and continue with feeding. You’ll probably already know, that Crossbill breed according to the availability of cones, which means they could breed in the depths of winter. There were a few Crossbill collecting material so I presume they are breeding right now and there were plenty of song flight displays, which is the only recording I didn’t manage to capture, so if I don’t manage to get that this year, that’s something I’ll have to wait for. Either way, I’m very please with the recordings below.

Breeding Season

What a month so far! No idea how I’m managing to fit all this in but it’s been such a special spring and despite a delay in the breeding season, things have burst into life, warm temps, lots of emerging insects, moths, dragonflies and just in time for our breeding birds to feed their chicks. I was beginning to worry about my Nightjar this year as Moth counts have been super low, which has resulted in them delaying their egg laying. Some have only just paired up which is crazy and overall I’m seeing less than half the pairs compared to the previous year. The bracken has come up quite fast as always though, so their habitat is looking perfect for egg laying. This month I’ve lead a few walks, one for In Our Nature CIC which was an introduction to Bird Song, with a perfect sized group. We aim todo another by the end of June to continue our progress. It’s great to see people show an interest in learning more about the natural world, as it really does help us find our place in the world. The other walk was my annual Nightjar walk for Gwent Ornithological Society, which was well attended with 20 people, but so many more people expressed their interest in another Nightjar walk as they weren’t able to attend the first, so we’ve arranged todo another on June 18th. Details of which to be found on the GOS website.

I’m not a twitcher, but it’s always nice to see or hear things I’ve never seen before, so every year I try to add a few more to the list of experiences. One big one has been hearing a Nightingale, as we don’t get them here in Wales and the closest know location is Highnam Woods in Gloucester. Two attempts, one in April (too early) and one in June (too late), so next year I must make more of an effort in May. It’s just difficult to enjoy spring as breeding bird survey season is the busiest time of year for me.

As you’ll see in the pics below I’ve still been quite busy. My nightjar have seen some drama, with one of my males injuring his nose. Still don’t even know if he’s survived his injury but he was paired up so I hope he does.

Recordings

For the minority sound recorders reading this, I’ve been beta testing a microphone configuration, using two Schoeps CCM 2’s (Loan from Schoeps) and my own Schoeps CCM 4 inside a Telinga/Rycote dish system. I’m always striving to improve the sound quality of my gear and with this setup, I really feel like I’ve hit the limits of what’s actually possible. The CCM 4 is the most accurate sounding microphone I’ve ever used, and in combination with two CCM 2’s outside of the dish, it really makes for a powerful setup in the right hands. I say in the right hands, because using the CCM 4 inside the dish, hand held, is quite difficult, as the handling noise compared to many of the more affordable Telinga Setups is no comparison. It just shows that in order to get the most accurate recording as far as sound quality is concerned, it comes at a cost. For me though, this cost is well worth it, as it’s forced me to approach my recordings differently. Most of the recordings below are still hand held, but for static subjects I’ve taken to using a monopod when possible, as it just gives me that extra stability and far less handling noise for longer time periods.

One of my favourite experiences using this new setup was actually at the River Warbler ‘twitch’ at RSPB Ham Wall Nature Reserve over the weekend. It’s a magical reserve that I’ve blogged about many times. It’s potentially my favourite reserve of all time, full of spectacular species, most of which are quite rare breeders anywhere else in the Uk. The River Warbler was the first in the country in almost 11 years I believe, so it’s a super rare bird and a first for me, but I was less eager to see it, and more excited to hear this incredible sound! They are very similar looking to a Grasshopper Warbler in terms of shape and size, but generally quite dark, with most of their more interesting features on the breast and under-tail coverts, but like I said, It’s all about that sound for me! and there’s nothing quite like it. Savi’s Warbler is more electric, Grasshopper Warbler is more like a Grasshopper but this sound is clearly a sound that is designed to carry over fast flowing water and is so much louder than any other bird I’ve he

Busy Season

I’ve come to the conclusion that if I have time to blog this spring, then I’m not doing enough! This time of year is so special, I have to make it the most productive as I possibly can, as my work demand also goes up with breeding season surveys and the start of bat season begins too. As a result i’ve limited my computer time as much as possible, so here’s a very brief catchup. Plenty more spring arrivals as our beautiful countryside just gets more colourful by the day. Each day we get a new species of birdsong adding even more colour, variety and texture. I’ve still got plenty on my todo list, one of which is to record the song of a Nightingale, but so far the weather is holding me back. I’ve found a Violet-oil Beetle site this month too, just waiting to find out if there are any records there before or not. I suspect there have been but even still, finding these fascinating beetles is always special. Firecrests are doing well this year so far, with even more pairs found, including some new sites around Gwent that could support larger populations in the future. I’ve also made some new observations with Firecrest mimicry that paint a completely different picture as to why these birds are mimicking Goldcrest. At first I thought it was to deter Goldcrest, who compete for the same food source and nesting locations, but I actually think it’s more of a submissive behaviour, when a neighbouring Firecrest is heard, it then choses to sing Goldcrest instead, as if not to avoid a rival response. There is a way I could confirm this but it may take a few more seasons of studying.

Spotlight

It’s always worth spending some time outdoors at night this time of year, with vocal foxes, owls, displaying waders and of course my favourite, the Nightjar. Which I’ll get to eventually. This pair of Tawny Owls were quite entertaining though. Very vocal and I even found both birds roosting out in the open in the day.

I’ve done quite a lot of recording this month as usual but this is so far my favourite. There’s something very tranquil about the song of a Pied Flycatcher, and with the nearby stream in the background, it takes me right back to some of my favourite places in Gwent.

After finding a new Firecrest territory, quite close to home, present also was that spectacular song from a Wood Warbler. After which I travelled to a better location to record this iconic sound of the forest, only to find yet another Firecrest territory. It would seem that they prefer very similar habitat as each other in Gwent and thanks to some thinning out of the forestry, it’s opened up even more habitat for these to spread, so the coming years should be interesting.

Sound Recording

Yet again, probably enough content to listen to all year lol. So much more that I haven’t posted yet either!

Nightjar Season Begins!

As you can see, there are plenty of Nightjar back on territory, but not all are back just yet. Or at-least I hope not, as that would mean I’m down this season compared to last. Still time though. Not much on the churring front yet though, with night time temps still pretty low for this time of year. I did manage to record a Roding Woodcock however, which is always a treat as we don’t seem to have big numbers of Woodcock in Gwent anymore, especially compared to the Forest of Dean. I should stress at this point, that even though I manage to regularly find and photograph Nightjar, that people don’t just yomp around trying to look for them, you will almost certainly be doing more damage than good. It’s taken me a lot of research, time and passion to do this in a manner that doesn’t create a disturbance and I can’t begin to stress how much thought, planning and research it takes before I even take a foot into their breeding habitat.

Nocmig

Nocmig is becoming hard to summarise. Mostly Whimbrel, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Curlew but also good numbers of Spotted Flycatcher so far, with over 30 recordings, some of which were even flocks of Spot Fly, which is crazy to imagine. I’ve only had one Pied Flycatcher though so far, which is a little worrying, and my usual haunts have only produced one pair so far this year. Crazy to think some aren’t back yet but others are well on their way to egg laying. I’ve also had a Female Cuckoo, which I did get last spring too. I’m thinking of starting a new soundcloud account just for Nocmig calls, as it can get a bit cluttered otherwise, and they don’t make great listening material either.
One exciting thing though, Craig Constance and myself have teamed up and bought a programable, remote audio recorder, intended on being used as a research device at select locations, like Llandegfedd Reservoir or Goldcliff. Areas that we would love to know what’s going over at night, but don’t want to chance leaving expending big microphones out in the elements. I’ll certainly let you know how that goes!

In Our Nature CIC

Be sure to check out our events page. Some of my readers may want to book on to the Birdsong event on the 28th, which will be a nice easy stroll around Pontypool Park, learning the basics of birdsong and also highlighting why it’s so enriching to us to listen to birds singing. https://www.inournaturecic.co.uk/whatson

Update

Llandegfedd:

A bitter-sweat visit to Llandegfedd, as wildlife sightings are commonly accompanied by wildlife disturbances.
Many firsts for the year, in the form of Large Red Damselflies, Fritillaries, Swallows, Redshank, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plovers.

As you can hear in the recording below, the LRP’s are getting very frisky, song displaying and remarking their territories, but constant disturbance from Dogs and People make it impossible to settle, and eventually they’ll commit to one spot and take a chance, or they’ll simply try and nest somewhere else more suitable. Dog poo bags hanging on tree’s (in no-public access areas), BBQ’s on the ground in the wildflower meadows where there are Adder’s Tongue ferns and plenty of Orchids coming thru. To most people they are just fields but they are so much more. The signage that has been put out by DCWW is so conflicting, there needs to be clear, educational messages and fencing to prevent disturbance. We need to educate people otherwise this will never change. It’s not their fault, they don’t know any better. This is where a Wildlife Educational Officer is needed at Llandegfedd. They have the facilities, they just need to pay somebody with the passion to do it.

Birding

It’s a struggle to fit any ‘serious’ birding in, but a last minute journey to Goldcliff point with Craig Constance to do some sea watching, was well overdue, but came just at the right time as there as been some considerable numbers of Terns, Gulls and Waders migrating into a NE wind. Our count was pretty good for an evening visit, with 59 Comic (Common or Artic) Tern, 19 Bar-tailed Godwits, 1 Fulmar, 50+ Swallow, 9 House Martin, 20+ Sand Martin, Artic Skua (lifer) and the most eventful was the Little Tern(!) passing at just 30m, but that ended up being a total disaster! as I blasted off 30 shots, each appearing to hit the mark in the optical viewfinder, but I looked down with a smile on my face, to find that I had no memory card in camera!! Lol I just about got a card in as it disappeared away in the distance lol. I was happy to still get a record shot though as it was a new bird for me. Bean Goose and White-fronted Goose are still on the Lagoons where I suspect they will stay for a while as they don’t have any adults to follow back to their breeding grounds. Good numbers of Whimbrel flocking in at the

Sound Recording

Plenty of recordings to share, but here are my favourites. I’ve got quite the collection of mimicking bird species now but I’ve got to say, this Blackcap mimicking Mistle Thrush has got to be one of my favourites. Equally, the local Mistle Thrush has a fantastic Lapwing mimic, which I only managed to capture on my pre-record function but it’s on the todo list. Just take a listen to that Blackcap, it repeats the same missile thrush phrase over and over again.

Plenty more Warblers arriving, all these from one trip to Newport Wetlands!

One bird that’s been on my list to record for a while though is a Common Redstart, as they’re often quite hard to approach whilst singing, and most of our local populations are upland, where recording conditions are challenging as it gets quite windy the higher up you get and the less objects you have to hide behind. I had to use an old stone wall / building to get this recording.

Nocmig

Tempted todo a separate blog on Nocmig as so much has happened! Barn Owl, Spotted Flycatcher, Water Rail, Little Grebe, Curlew, LRP’s, Oystercatchers and so much more! Here’s a short video clip of the Barn Owl.

Nocmig

Birding

My first ‘birding’ trip to Llandegfedd this year proved fruitful with a Kittiwake flying in over our heads on the dam wall, continuing on a NW flight path. Not sure if it’s a migrating bird or if it’s been blown off course during the last storm but I presume it’s the latter. There’s so much we don’t yet know about migratory birds, which is why Nocmig recording is quite an exciting activity to take part in. All that community data could really help paint a bigger picture about bird movements and distribution and all this could be achieved from the comfort of your home. So far I’ve only heard a Swallow, I haven’t actually seen one yet but looking forward to it.

One spring migrant I’ve certainly heard plenty of so far is the Chiffchaff. At first I wasn’t sure if it was just the birds that overwintered here that were singing, but I can confirm now on the Gwent Levels that they’re everywhere already! Here’s a recording from Llandegfedd this week.

I love this time of year, as winter migrants start to properly sing and ‘warm up’ to spring, but at the same time, spring migrants are arriving and starting to reclaim territories, so you get this cross-over of sounds from birds that live in totally different worlds to each other. You would have probably heard this by now but if you haven’t, keep a close eye on the Ivy and Holly bushes, especially around open fields of waterways. As the Redwing flock up, they’ll often sing together, creating a wall of sound that sounds way bigger than it actually is. The scratchy sub-song of the Redwing is quite common in winter but it’s less common to get a single bird sing their spring song, which is exactly what you can hear slightly in the recording below. Just a few fluty notes is all it takes.

I’ve recorded quite a lot so I won’t post everything, but here’s a comparison between the song of a Goldcrest and a Firecrest. Other than the fact that they’re both high pitch, they’re quite different when you know what you’re listening out for, so here’s a comparison. That dainty, bouncy rhythm of the Goldcrest is quite distinctive compared to the Firecrests loud-sharp-monotone song, that speeds up towards the end.

I have plenty more new recordings to listen to. I’m really starting to become more proud of the work that I do, and the benefits that it has, not just for my own mental health, but for others than are stuck in isolation, not just because of covid lockdowns but because they’re confined to the house, care home or hospital bed.
Below, probably one of my favourite, as it’s my very own Garden Blackbird that is now gracing me every morning and evening. I’ve commented on the track where mimicry is used.

My local Yellowhammer’s are back on territory and it’s so nice to hear this iconic song again. I can’t imagine the countryside without it. We need more gorse! Hedgerows aren’t enough, we need to protect our gorse patches and not allow farming culture to cut it all down. Even the brecon beacons national park have a lot to answer for, for needlessly cutting down gorse. Cattle can graze around it, and it doesn’t spoilt the view, it enhances it, as a mountain side covered in flowering gorse is a site to behold.

If you haven’t managed to get to your local mountains yet, the moorland soundtrack is in full swing again. Plenty of Skylark and Meadow Pipit displaying. The only sad the about that trip was seeing the amount of destruction done to our protected peat bogs. 4X4 and off-road vehicles have a lot to answer for, not only do they pose a threat to ground nesting birds but the damage they’ve have caused to our nationally important peat bogs is almost irreversible. They think it’s just grass, and that the grass will grow back, but that is not our moorlands work! they aren’t in many ways like ancient woodland, formed over hundreds of years, and once damaged like this, take a very long time to recover. The exposed peat makes the moorland less affective at storing water, which can cause flooding, as that water is no longer being stored and released slowly. It also contributes to global warming, as it makes the peat less affective at storing carbon. I hate seeing this happen on our doorstep but truth is, it’s happening everywhere. It’s good to see the police are starting to tackle this but I do think that off-roaders need somewhere where they can practise their hobby and enjoy themselves without causing damage. Simply educating people isn’t going to be enough.

Some other cool moments for sound were these Carrion Crows, that were in full territorial dispute. At first I thought they were dive bombing a predator, but they were actually dive bombing each other. |f you listen to the start of the recording, you can hear two birds forming a bond with each other by rubbing their bills together.

I’ll hopefully get more opportunities to record Siskin, as I know they can be excellent at mimicking other birds. In this recording you can hear Swallow and Green Woodpecker, but I’ve heard some that are quite elaborate with it.

This Robin actually did a pretty good job at mimicking other birds. I’ve commented a few of the more obvious species on the actual track, check them out.

Nocmig

Right! Now onto the good stuff, as migration is well and truly underway! And like last spring, I have high hopes for something special flying over the house. So far it’s been mixed bags, but last night, despite the northerly winds, I had quite a variety of cool birds.

I won’t upload every recording, but I’ve also had Wigeon, Snipe and good numbers of Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Redwing and small numbers of Song Thrush too. As we approach April, things should really pick up, as so much starts moving, it’s quite exciting as you never know what you might have flying over your house at night. I’m expecting Common Scoter any day now as they have started moving all across the country but I’m also looking forward to Terns arriving, Spotted Flycatchers and Tree Pipits, which seemed to be a popular one for me last year.

I’ll end with some sleep material and a celebration of my local streams.


In Our Nature CIC

Be sure to check out my business In Our Nature CIC as we roll out free online workshops and downloadable resources, as part of our Heritage Lottery funded project My Local Patch.

We have a few dates for the diary, which were intended on being outdoor workshops originally but we’re having to adapt like many other businesses and provide our workshops online. It’s all new for us so bare with us as we digitise all our material. It’s the perfect time to celebrate our local patches, and be thankful for the things we do have on our doorstep during these difficult times.

Naturally I’ve diverted a lot of my time over to In Our Nature, which is another reason why I’ve focused so much on sound recording the last year, to increase my sound library to produce content that will be beneficial for educational purposes and therapeutic, as the sounds of nature really do have a positive impact on peoples mental health. That sense of freedom, roaming your favourite forest straight after a long lockdown is one of the biggest releases and I cannot wait to be able to travel again for that reason alone. For now I’ve been exploiting local patches, getting up that extra bit early to avoid the sounds of traffic, which isn’t always achievable but I’ve done my best. Local Marsh Tit’s were a real nice surprise, especially as they appeared to be paired up and singing. Generally though I’m just happy to start hearing more birds singing.

One interesting songster came in the form of this Chaffinch, which gave a little ‘brrrrrrr’ type trill at the start, as if it were warming up the vocals before giving it the full shebang.

Nocmig

I haven’t posted any updates on my nocturnal migration progress for a while, but I’m still at it!
So much to talk about I don’t even know where to start, but I hope to reveal some mystery files soon once I’ve got them approved but so far, a few good movements of Song Thrush, small numbers of Redwing, but the Mallards, Moorhens, Coots and Oystercatchers have began. I know as soon as I start to get Oystercatchers going over the house it’s game on.

I’ll end with some random doorstep photos, in what has been a variable and unpredictable few months of weather so far this year.