Stopping By Hedgerows

As we come to the end of autumn, reflections on October. Mushrooms, migrants and more.

Acknowledgements

• Seán Lysaght for discussion on Irish names for redwing and fieldfare
• Redwing, Paul Kelly, XC1083947. Accessible at https://www.xeno-canto.org/1083947  
• Whooper Swans, Paul Kelly, XC1086575. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/1086575  
• River effects at https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07044052

The Irish for September is Mean Fomhair, meaning middle autumn or middle harvest. 

What can we see this month that makes it September and not another month? 

Acknowledgements

Phil Barnett

Robin - Molly Bell, XC986244. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/986244 

Swift - Molly Bell, XC924454. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/924454 

Swallow - Paul Kelly, XC1017558. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1017558 

Swallow - Paul Kelly, XC1017558. Accessible at 

Robin Irish Wildlife Sounds, XC621371. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/621371. 

Willow Warbler - Colm Philpott. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1133423. 

John Keats - To Autumn

As summer draws to a close, the swifts will soon disappear south, which makes this the right moment to close season 2 of Stopping By Hedgerows with an episode devoted to them.

Acknowledgements

Swift Conservation Ireland - https://www.swiftconservation.ie/

Lough Carra Catchment Association https://loughcarra.org/

Swifts

• Molly Bell, XC924454. Accessible at https://www.xeno-canto.org/924454  

• Mr Mark Shorten, XC574312. Accessible at https://www.xeno-canto.org/574312 

• https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=NHU05100172

Swallows

• Paul Kelly, XC1017558. Accessible at https://www.xeno-canto.org/1017558 

House Martin

• Paul Kelly, XC737839. Accessible at https://www.xeno-canto.org/737839

Neighbours that I often take for granted, but in this podcast I give some time to consider crows.

Acknowledgements

• Claudia Wascher, The mind of a crow https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/cambridge-festival-the-mind-of-a-crow#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20corvids%20have%20evolved%20a,using%20deceptive%20approaches%20that%20obscure%20their%20intentions.
• Bird, C. D., & Emery, N. J. (2009). "Insightful problem solving and creative tool modification by captive nontool-using rooks." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 106(25), 10370–10375.
• Bird, C. D., & Emery, N. J. (2009). "Rooks use stones to solve the Aesop's fable story." Current Biology, 19(16), 1410–1414.
• Anil Ananthaswamy⁠: Ravens can plan for future as well as 4-year-old children can ⁠https://www.newscientist.com/article/2140668-ravens-can-plan-for-future-as-well-as-4-year-old-children-can/

Recordings

Rooks

• Colm Philpott, XC1027679. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/1027679
• Colm Philpott, XC995276. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/995276
• Irish Wildlife Sounds, XC647763. Accessible at  https://xeno-canto.org/647763
• Oscar Campbell, XC669774. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/669774

Hooded crow

• Irish Wildlife Sounds, XC647763. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/723068 
• Hooded crows flying to roost: https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=NHU05104073 

Jackdaw

• Colm Philpott, XC1092962. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/1092962 

Raven

• Irish Wildlife Sounds, XC735515. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/735515
• Colm Philpott, XC1164860. Accessible at https://xeno-canto.org/1164860

Sillage cutting

• https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=NHU05005011 

A walk of a thousand paces, part nature observation, part a mythology of my own creation. Looking at the landscape through a different lens.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to Phil Barnett, Louise Mee and Micki Colbeck, whose generous reading improved this piece.

This piece was deeply inspired by the Metrical Dindshenchas, a text compiled between the 11th and 14th centuries that records Ireland’s much older oral traditions.  https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T106500C.html 

This episode draws inspiration from the Songlines of the Australian First Nations peoples, the oldest continuous narrative geography on Earth. I acknowledge their custodianship of a landscape where every path carries a living voice. https://deadlystory.com/page/culture/Life_Lore/Songlines 

Acknowledgement is also given to the enduring creation narratives of the Haida Nation, who celebrate the figure of Raven, the masterful trickster whose curiosity coaxed humanity into being from a simple clamshell.  https://moa.ubc.ca/2020/01/the-raven-and-the-first-men-from-conception-to-completion/ 

Ethiopia, women washing at a well.  https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07015046

Flowing river. https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07031097 

Wind. https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=NHU05012151 

Raven. https://xeno-canto.org/346231 

Wren alarm call. https://xeno-canto.org/692833 

Song Thrush. https://xeno-canto.org/1082934 

Stone Chat. https://xeno-canto.org/1135845 

Chiffchaff. https://xeno-canto.org/566729 Willow Warbler. https://xeno-canto.org/1133423

Cuckoo. https://xeno-canto.org/653108 

Long-tailed Tit. https://xeno-canto.org/1080201 

Buzzard. https://xeno-canto.org/510736 

Badger. https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=NHU05079106

Mostly ignored, but silently growing all the time. The grass under our feet can be an unexpected source of much interest.

Acknowledgements

• Identification guide to Ireland’s Grasses, National Biodiversity Data Centre.

• Grass by Carl Sandburg first appeared in ‘Cornhuskers’ in 1918.

It is always special to welcome the swallows back after their long journey from the south. They have cpatured our imaginations for millennia, and there is much to learn about these fork-tailed beauties.

Acknowledgments

• The relationship between nest location selection of Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) and human activity and residence - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-50149-6

• The Barn Swallow, Angela K. Turner - https://books.google.ie/books/about/The_Barn_Swallow.html?id=jsxXFkHXKXAC&redir_esc=y

Some birds have a simple calls but these often hold an iconic position in our collective memory. Let's listen to these two-note troubadours. 

Acknoweldgements

• Great Tit https://xeno-canto.org/788731 
• Coal Tit https://xeno-canto.org/717705 
• Blue Tit https://xeno-canto.org/1070960 
• Common chiffchaff https://xeno-canto.org/637792 
• Willow warbler https://xeno-canto.org/915783
• Cuckoo https://xeno-canto.org/673118 
• Corncrake https://xeno-canto.org/810279 
• Phil Barnett, for his discussion on thsi topic
• Róisín Costello, Of corncrakes and Irish. https://irishpages.org/down-to-earth/?v=25400724d737
• https://www.corncrakelife.ie/
• Ręk, P. (2013). Acoustic location of conspecifics in a nocturnal bird: The corncrake Crex crex. Acta Ethologica, 17(1), 31–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-013-0155-3 

I explore how Ireland’s historical maps serve as more than just navigational tools, revealing the deep, often complex stories etched into our landscape. By retracing the steps of 19th-century surveyors, I examine the intersection of culture, colonial history, and personal memory.

Acknowledgements

• Jim O’Connor for his local knowledge. https://www.facebook.com/jim.oconnor.33633344/posts/pfbid02mCyZZhexCAt3y76JnBtTcDqaiGgASsbGfQjwEK7GWCHLTFz3DUuKXDVxQ21HJ8E7l?comment_id=3294401454051542¬if_id=1769102767301634¬if_t=comment_mention&ref=notif

• William Anthony Smith, Thesis for PhD NUI Maynooth 2008 https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/7778/1/Smyth%202008.pdf

• Tailte Eireann https://osi.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=1d1c28801e5542f88960fda8e9f6d686

• O’ Donovan Field Name books https://www.mayo.ie/library/local-history/publications-photographs/historical-artifacts?fbclid=IwY2xjawPgRPdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETB5WEJIZFg2OVRHMXdMWmlZc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHhIylqYHwQqypXOBIGt1nUHS04dcuCZdPwJoGe7wO45k3HdW-rPzOCUumLP9_aem_ulbBLqJG3kdck6XmgJkkjg

• Digital Archive of Ireland’s Ordnance Survey - https://dri.ie/os200/spotlight/os200

• Hubert Dreyfus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Dreyfus

• The Bog Shaman. Manchán Magan on John Moriarty https://open.spotify.com/show/31m0uD97rsj9i4q1ROdjvz?si=471f5663980f457c 

• https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07037386

• https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=0009008

• https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07038006

Spring a time of birth and life, but also of death. Seeing the signals, listening to the sounds.

Acknowledgements

• BirdWatch Ireland, Buzzard Species Focus (2011)

• https://birdfact.com/articles/buzzard-nesting

• https://historycooperative.org/cailleach/

• https://simonbarnesauthor.co.uk/books/birdwatching-with-your-eyes-closed/

• Collared Dove https://xeno-canto.org/621403 

• Great Tit https://xeno-canto.org/1073555 

• Chaffinch https://xeno-canto.org/717558 

• Chiffchaff https://xeno-canto.org/561607 

• Willow Warbler https://xeno-canto.org/561607

• Cuckoo https://xeno-canto.org/673118 

• Buff tailed bumble bee https://plant-evolution.org/buzz-pollination_sounds/080109-002.mp3