Field Recordings

“When it’s the hottest day ever recorded in the UK (40.2c) and you live in a small metal box, there’s only one thing to do and that’s go to the nearest body of water and lie there. This shallow river is always filled with teenagers and families on the banks having BBQs. It’s only a few miles from where that peak temperature was measured at Heathrow. Reading my book in this little cool glade allowed my mind to start working again.”

“4 mins of a rural village garden, 29.7 degrees at gone 8pm on the day we broke 40, in the UK’s most water-stressed and lowest-rainfall region, featuring a greenfinch, collared doves, sparrows, swifts, a silent blackbird (they’ve just stopped singing in the last week) and a very persistent wasp.” 

“It was a blazingly hot afternoon and the sunshine on the pondweed in the moat was generating bubbles that were popping all around as I sat in a “Watergate” at the foot of the keep, looking across to the niches which had, until the “English” Civil War, contained statues of Roman emperors.  You can hear pied wagtails, visitors to the castle, distant traffic on the A449 and maybe even a dragonfly.”

“The patches of trees create small shaded havens for wildlife, but they don’t completely obstruct the soundscape as ancient rainforests will do. You can hear birdsong and insect calls from quite far away. When you add loud sources like thunder to the mix, you can clearly get a sense for the space in which this recording was captured. Longer version at https://youtu.be/X6qXjxRQAWE“

“Swam out to watch the sun come up across the water. Bats overhead and roosters crowing in the distance.”

“The main goal of my trip to Lorraine in the east of France was to record Common Midwife Toads. The location was an old disused quarry just outside Lérouville and knowing the toads begin calling after dusk, I arrived early to have time to scope out the location. I was immediately greeted by a group of very vocal Parsley Frogs, their calls echoing around the quarry. I captured this recording much later that night, just after midnight, once the birds had fallen silent.”

“Most of the BWCA is only accessible by canoe —no motors are allowed — making it a quiet place. I like this recording because there are so many things happening at different distances from the microphone, which gives a deep sense of perspective.”

“Stayed overnight in Camber Sands, East Sussex. Was hoping to go for a morning swim in the sea, but was so cold the best we could manage was paddle in the shallows under an umbrella. We had the whole beach to ourselves, bar a passing dog walker and a couple of excited (very wet) pooches.”