Sounds I once heard...

From Bialowieza Forest in Poland, a Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina) in Krynica alder swamp: recorded early afternoon on 29 June 2009, calls of a perched bird, possibly a male close to the nest site.


At midnight in Finland in early July 2003, a whipping Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana) in the marshlands around Lake Siikalahti, Parikkala.


The huge spring staging site for Eurasian Cranes (Grus grus) at Hornborgasjön in Västergötland, Sweden attacted 18000 birds at the peak period in 2009. Listen to a sample of the 'Trandansen' below.


A more tropical sound follows with a pair of Coraya Wrens (Thryothorus coraya) engaging in antiphonal duetting where both sexes contribute alternative phrases in quick, coordinated succession to produce a ‘final’ song. Can you tell which part is being produced by which sex? I recorded this near Tarapoto in northern Peru during September 2009.


Finally closer to home, the nocturnal cacophony of roosting Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus) on the Folly Pond at Caerlaverock WWT reserve on the Solway Firth in Scotland. These birds were recorded late at night from one of the guest rooms in the farmhouse - a great sound to drift off to sleep to in late December.