Hi all
I'm working on a project documenting the sounds of a large country park in the
Scottish Borders. I've recently been recording the pinkfoot geese wintering on
Folly Loch, a small loch near the village of Ancrum. I'm told they've come from
Iceland, this year with fewer young than expected because they're being shot in
greater numbers but I can't confirm this. I must confess that I'm a novice
twitcher so I truly hope that they are pinkfoot geese or I'm going to look a
bit stupid aren't I...?
I have about six decent edits so I'd like to share the first which is online as
the track 'Folly Loch' at:-
http://www.myspace.com/lafriquefantome
The loch is about a mile from a reasonably busy A road. A small single track
road runs along the length of the loch about 20 metres off from the water's
edge. The A road traffic can be felt as a low frequency presence but isn't too
intrusive. The traffic on the small road doesn't interfere with this particular
take. On the other side of the loch from the road a hillside rises up to a
thick copse of evergreens. Various cackles and chirps emanate from this
location from time to time. I'll get round to ID'ing those in due course. I was
about 20 or so feet above the loch on the hillside, facing the middle. Waves of
of geese came in at dusk in flights of between four and twelve. This recording
captures one such flight heard first in the distance to the far right, hoving
into view and panning clearly to centre left where they splash down and are
greeted by the others already on the loch. The hillside offers a wonderful echo
which can be picked up on the mp3 soundfile, though I have
to say that it is very resonant on the original 24/96 recording. The
experience is sublime - I've been back several times and have been dumbstruck
by the sheer physical presence and elegance of the geese and by the wealth of
sonic detail in their evening ritual. On several occasions clusters of Greylags
circled overhead, gathering together into an enormous V, adding their call to
the polyphony, before wheeling off to settle for the night.
I'm using a pair of AT3032s mounted on a DIY 'Curt Olson' head spaced barrier,
fed to a Fostex FR2LE recording at 24/96. I'm not as close as I'd like on this
recording so for the next few I sought cover in a nearby bracken bog. Apart
from the feeling of self mortification and the resultant pleasure that this
gives to us Scottish Presbyterians, I caught the whirr and zip of the geese
flying in over my head and was much closer to the water.
More later
James
www.wyness.org
www.khora.org.uk
www.myspace.com/lAfriqueFantome
http://fieldlugs.blogspot.com/
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