Wild Bird Acoustics

Tucked away, deep inside the ancient woodlands that make up Tyresta National Park, lies one of many small wetlands, hidden in the interior of this vast forest reserve. This small marsh is called Nedre Kärret and lies in a natural ampitheatre, surrounded by high outcrops of rock and pristine spruce forest. Having honed in on this micro habitat, I decided to attempt to uncover the birds present day and night, using a combination of active and passive recording techniques. The wetland is in constant flux, with European Beaver the architects of this hidden world, creating breeding habitat for a multitude of bird species by way of their ceaseless activities. In this episode I will lift the curtain an this magical little wetland and invite you, the listener, to join me....

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Late summer is a fantastic time to be in the far north of Sweden. In July 2024 I spent a month on the tiny island of Hällögern, field recording the many breeding species present on the island. This proved to be an overwhelming success. Because I had such a generous amount of time available to me, I was able to observe the birds carefully at the location, often managing to get my microphones into optimal positions. The result was a large amount of extremely high quality audio, which I will be sharing with listeners in this episode. This episode will transport you to the coast of Västerbotten in summer and allow full immersion into this wonderful part of the world..

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Sandemar Reserve, located just southeast of Stockholm City, is a wonderful place to record birds. My favourite month at this site is undoubtedly May, when the spring floodgates are opened and migrant bird species return in the large numbers. It is at this time of year that waves of summer migrants arrive on the coastline of Sweden. This is an exciting time to be in the field. Throughout the entire month, I devoted myself to this this remarkable site, arriving at dawn to actively record returning migrant species. In addition to the large amount of time spent actively recording at the site, I also made great efforts to carefully place automated recorders in several areas, in the  hope of uncovering audio of some of the more secretive species at this site.  The result was a treasure trove of delightful results, audio of a wide range of species, in a number of different habitats. Join me at Wild Bird Acoustics as I share the audio with listeners...

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Sweden is world famous for its stunning vista of remote freshwater lakes, lined with coniferous forest. Happily, this scene is still very much a reality in the modern day. At Tyresta National Park, a stones throw from Stockholm City, lie a number of freshwater lakes and in the spring of 2024, I was drawn to them once again. Having undertaken a major field recording project at the park, I wanted to uncover the secrets of the lakes within the park. I was very much focused on field recording of one of Sweden's most iconic sounds, the breeding display of Black-throated Diver. This endeavour proved not to be as simple as I had anticipated, but there were some wonderful moments along the way, as I tried to get to grips with my target species. Did I succeed in the end? Join me in this episode of Wild Bird Acoustics in order to find out...

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March in Sweden is a period when resident species begin to become active after a long winter here in Sweden and woodland habitats begin to ring with the sounds of singing birds once again. In 2025 I visited Tyresta National Park throughout the early Spring period in order to record these resident species, before the return of summer migrants. I was interested in recording the soundscape within woodland before it became saturated with the song of a wider range of species. In effect, the sound of woodland in early spring is rather pure and it is an excellent time to obtain high quality recording of several special species, such as Black Woodpecker and Red Crossbill. I found a wonderful soundscape to record within the park, as I traversed this massive tract of woodland in search of birds. The results of this intensive sound recording project were quite wonderful and surpassed my own expectations. In this episode, I share recordings from that early spring period, just before most migrants return to Sweden. 

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Northern Sweden is a field recorders dream and a place I return to at every given opportunity. Each summer, I return in order to relax and spend time in nature, allowing the sounds of the natural world to seep into my very being. It is an incredibly relaxing place and one I wish to share with other's. Places like this are increasingly rare in the modern world... 

 In this episode I present the audio I collected over the course of July 2025 from the tiny island of Hällögern. Most of the month was spent recording various breeding species, often watching them for long periods in order to figure out where best to deploy my recording rigs. Having an abundance of time on my hands was a rare gift and the result was some rather special audio. This will be the first of a number of episodes where I share audio from that particular period on the island and I hope that listeners will enjoy every strophe of it...

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In this episode I present a feature length sound magazine, put together with audio from a field recording project  carried out at Sandemar Reserve in Sweden. In May 2025, I decided to concentrate heavily on this incredible site, using both active and passive methods of recording. A great deal of time was spent at the site at a time when the reserve is at it's busiest. Sandemar Reserve is an area that I have become extremely familiar with over the years and I have now birded regularly at the site for over twenty years. Over that entire period, the site has continually thrown up  surprises. From my experiences here, I knew that a focused field recording project though the month of May would result in a large amount of remarkable audio.  Over the course of a month I visited the reserve many times, greatly enjoying the sounds of this incredible area, which is blessed with a multitude of different habitats. As migrants began to stream through the area and breeding species began to take up territories, the soundscape became more and more varied. Some rather special local species were among them, along with a few surprises. The more I drilled down, the more I uncovered...

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In this episode, Wild Bird Acoustics presents a brace of sound magazines for your enjoyment. The first of these, The Vocalizations of Eurasian Jay, is an intimate look at a wonderful woodland species. This characterful corvid has a fascinating range of calls and a quite remarkable proclivity for mimicry. This charming species has fascinated me for some time. Spending a large amount of time in woodland habitat over the course of spring 2025 has finally allowed me to collect enough quality audio of Eurasian Jay to put together a dedicated sound magazine, detailing the voice and habits of this endearing, intelligent corvid.

Regarding the second half of this episode, we will travel northward to the coastal Västerbotten once again and sample the sounds of Autumn. At this remarkable location each year, migrant birds move southwards, directly  past my listening station on the island of Hällögern. Join me as I share some of the passive recording highlights from the island of Hällögern...

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In this episode I present two sound magazines for listeners. The first of these concerns a single day at Ågesta Reserve, just south of Stockholm City. I visited the reserve on 10th May 2025 and spent a wonderful morning actively recording a large amount of species at the site, moving from one bird to the next, simply enjoying the rich and varied birdlife at the site. On the day, the place was alive with birds, all of which were extremely vocal and I secured a large amount of wonderful audio in this single visit. On days such as this, it is simply incredible to be in the field, here in Sweden. 

The second sound magazine should appeal to all those who regularly tune in to Wild Bird Acoustics and are interested in nocturnal migration. Here I discuss some of  the better audio recordings I managed over the course of spring 2025 at my main listening station at Landsort, Sweden. 2025 was an extremely productive season of spring migration and I have plenty of interesting audio to share. Join me as I lift the veil on nocturnal bird migration over the Stockholm Archipelago.

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Woodland habitat is something I have wanted to drill down into for many years now and Sweden is blessed with some truly wonderful forest habitat. After a great deal of careful thought and deliberation over the course of the winter, I eventually decided to drill down into the sounds of woodland over the course of early spring. A major field recording project was planned and executed as a result and it proved a truly magical experience. Tyresta National Park boasts one of the largest coniferous old-growth forests in southern Sweden and extends over a vast area of over 5,000 hectares. Stands of ancient Scots Pine dominate the high interior, some of the trees being aged at over 400 years old. Norwegian Spruce dominates the lower ground in the park, whilst deciduous tree species like Aspen, Birch, Beech and Alder also contribute to the diverse woodland. The ancient old growth woodland is an incredibly diverse habitat for all kinds of flora and fauna and it is filled with birds. In the spring of 2024 I simply lost myself along moss and lichen strewn trails in this wonderful forest, field recording all I came across. It was a truly a magical experience. The park is wonderfully quiet as a general rule and a sound recorders dream to work within. The first few weeks inside the park proved an unforgettable experience as it slowly revealed its secrets to me. By means of active and passive recording, I built up an wonderful library of recordings. In this episode, I share the beginnings of my experiences, during the early spring period  at the park, in 2025.

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Subscibe to Wild Bird Acoustics here;
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