Bringing nature to you in sounds and images
Posted in Australia, In Nature:, Sarah's Photography on Feb 16th, 2010
It’s 10.30 pm, and Andrew and I are about to head off to bed, when we hear a soft thump on the window pane.
From experience we know that a sound like this can only be made by either a large moth attracted by our house lights, or more excitingly, an owl hunting them. On [...]
Posted in Australia, In Nature: on Feb 2nd, 2010
Recently I was out recording cicadas, when I came across a Grey Shrike Thrush giving a lovely rendition of subsong.
Listen here
Posted in In Nature:, Understanding Nature on Jan 7th, 2010
We’ve just had a succession of 40 degree days. I’m talking Celsius (that’s over 100 degrees Fahrenheit), and yes, I’m writing from the Southern Hemisphere – Australia.
The cicadas have begun singing in the eucalypt forests around us, and the other morning I put my microphones out for a few hours to capture their choruses. For [...]
Posted in Australia, In Nature:, Sarah's Photography on Dec 28th, 2009
The Australian Bustard, Ardeotis australis, is a majestic bird of open country in the remoter parts of Australia.
Posted in Australia, In Nature: on Dec 26th, 2009
It was 2.30am, and Sarah and I listened as gusts of wind and occasional rain-squalls lashed our tent. Our plan of arising early to record the morning’s birdsong was not looking very hopeful. Which was disappointing, as this was our last morning in the Stirling Ranges, and we were hoping to hear and record the [...]
Posted in In Nature:, Understanding Nature on Dec 4th, 2009
Birds don’t just make sounds by singing, they use mechanical and ‘body sounds’ to communicate too.
‘Bill-clicking’ is a widespread behaviour, and is sometimes combined with normal vocalising, as with the flock calls of White-winged Choughs, where a bill-click subtlely precedes a mournful descending whistle (listen for it on track 11 of our ‘A Morning in [...]
Posted in In Nature: on May 28th, 2009
To date we have published three nature recordings featuring the coastal and ocean beach sounds. They are understandably popular, as the sounds of the sea are very relaxing.
But customers often ask; what is the difference between these recordings – surely a beach is a beach? So this is a good opportunity to discuss the variety [...]
Posted in In Nature:, India, Travel on May 26th, 2009
At 4 a.m., It felt like we were driving across the surface of the moon. Overhead the stars shone; hard diamonds in an inky sky. The ground over which we drove was a featureless plain of baked, grey earth – the Rann of Kutch.
This unique lowland area in the northwest of India lies between [...]
Posted in In Nature:, India on May 17th, 2009
What is the most beautiful songbird in the world?
If we mean ‘musical to our ears’, then surely one of our favourites would be the Malabar Whistling Thrush, Myophonus horsfieldii, of India. Also known as the ‘whistling schoolboy’, this bird has the most haunting and tuneful of songs – it is indeed like overhearing someone whistling [...]
Posted in Australia, In Nature: on May 11th, 2009
The Painted Button Quail, Turnix varia, is a native quail of the drier eucalypt forests of eastern and southern Australia. Whilst they are widespread, they are quite uncommon, and their camouflage plumage makes actually seeing them in the bush a rare treat.
Our first encounter with them was fifteen years ago, whilst sound recording for one [...]