On expeditions in unfamiliar areas, it might happen that the sheer number of interesting sounds overwhelms you. Especially when no man made noise pollutes the soundscape. In such a situation, I either prefer not to make any sound recordings at all or to quickly decide what to focus on. In a valley in central Mongolia, I was looking/hearing for Godlewski's Buntings. In the very moment I found a singing male, two shepherd boys with more than 100 horses came up the slope - straight towards me. Immediately it was clear that a clean recording of the bunting would never succeed under these circumstances. On the other hand, the chance to record such a large herd of horses would not be that easy anymore - especially since they were still far enough to bring my recording rig well into position...

Bird species in background: Common Rosefinch, Ortolan Bunting, Eastern Black Redstart, Eurasian Cuckoo