Hello all,
I had the good fortune to be sound recording in Iceland recently, and
will be returning for another brief visit next week. It's a wonderful
country for people with our interest, as long as there's no wind. Lake
Myvatn in the northeast, with its myriad wildfowl, shorebirds etc is
simply the finest location I've ever been for recording northern wetland
birds. Many species of ducks and other wildfowl which are almost silent
on their wintering grounds are amazingly vocal here. The weird lava
formations and relatively low number of people there mean that you can
always easily find a quiet corner, especially at night, and the
surroundings offer some wonderful acoustics.
Unfortunately I was only there rather briefly (it's still a very
expensive place for most of us!), so although I got some great
recordings, I missed a couple of important ones. Iceland is the only
European country with regularly breeding Common Loon or Great Northern
Diver, known in Iceland by the beautiful name Himbrimi. I made fine
recordings of 'tremolo' calls and some long wails, but I was never
within good range when any of them gave the full display-call or
'yodel', the well-known structured series of rather high-pitched wails.
There are probably many of you who know this bird much better than I do,
so my question is this: do they still give these calls right through the
breeding season, or only in the first part? When I return they will
probably have hatched young - am I too late, or should I persevere? I
won't have time to go to Myvatn and may be limited to a lake with only
one pair. What are their habits regarding this vocalisation?
Best regards,
Magnus Robb
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