> Something that cropped up in a wildlife sound recording
> competition a few years ago. One of the winning entries
> was an 'atmospheric' recording of a curlew on some mudflats,
> technically very good. But the species was misidentified and
> it was an alarm call of a bird flying off (maybe disturbed
> by the recordist?). One of the members questioned whether this
> should be a competition winner. What do you think?
An excellent question! If the judges didn't realize it was an alarm
call, then I think they should be forgiven for choosing this recording.
If they did know, then maybe it should not have been chosen. Perhaps
the recordist should have provided some clarification as to the
circumstances. Migrating shorebirds are often right on the margins of
survival and disturbing them should not be encouraged no matter what the
quality of the recording one gets. Even if the recordist wasn't the one
who actually spooked the bird, s/he was a factor. Many birds will
tolerate one threat that they can keep their eyes on, but will flee when
a second threat shows up. Of course if the second threat were a dog
chasing the bird, then the recordist could hardly be blamed for that.
> ... (nightingales with WWII bombers in the background.) But also
> as a wildlife recording, with documentation of the context, it is
> a profoundly moving recording, of which the nightingale is an
> integral part.
>
> I've wandered a bit.
I don't mind, please wander more! This was one of the most
interesting paragraphs I've read here in a long time.
--Brian M. Godfrey
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