Dryad - woodland soundscapes

TRACKLIST (Click for notes)

1 Dawn chorus in May (15'48")

2 After sunrise (14'07")

3 Evensong in May (4'00")

4 In a sessile oakwood (7'29")

5 In a northern birchwood (11'58")

6 Shrew's eye view (3'29")

7 Late summer (8'03")

8 October in a pinewood (5'14")

9 ...next morning (2'28")

10 Winter night (3'57")

1 Dawn chorus in May ... 15'48"

Recorded in a young bracken and bluebell covered clearing in mixed broad-leaved woodland in northern Britain from just before dawn in mid-May (3.45am BST); the woods are dripping from the early mist on rising ground above a valley. The peak of the dawn chorus is a phenomenal riot of sound approaching cacophany and best experienced in the flesh; this sequence includes the build-up to the full chorus and the period afterwards where the first wave of song is subsiding.

Redstart, woodcock, roe deer, cuckoo, robin, song thrush, blackbird, wren, great tit and woodpigeon are the main species; pheasant, rook, wood warbler, garden warbler and treecreeper can also be heard.

2 After sunrise ... 14'07"

Scenes from higher up in the same woodland some time later in the morning. Chiff-chaff, great spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, willow warbler, chaffinch, common crossbill, coal tit, jay, mistle thrush and many of the same species as the previous track can all be heard.

3 Evensong in May ... 4'00"

Recorded at around 9pm in May. In spring and early summer several species of bird can be heard singing in the late evening as dusk is coming on; but for much of the rest of the year this is the time for the bitter-sweet cadences of robin song. Late to roost and early to rise, the robin is a close relative of the nightingale and shares the same dark-piercing eye; it may lack the sheer athletic performance of the nightingale, but for myself robin song is so much more listenable. A song thrush begins singing towards the end. (With pheasant, sheep and mallard.)

4 In a sessile oakwood ... 7'29"

Scenes from a wood on a steep hillside in Wales recorded in May at around 7am. Wood warbler and pied flycatcher sing close-by; redstart and raven (and sheep) can also be heard. Male pied flycatchers sing vigorously for a few weeks when they arrive, but once the work of breeding takes over they tend to go quiet.

5 In a northern birchwood ... 11'58"

A moribund wood with scattered birches and some rowan on moorland in north-east Scotland was the scene for this recording. Redstart and willow warbler can be heard singing close-by; redpoll, chaffinch, curlew, woodpigeon and roe deer can also be heard.

6 Shrew's eye view ... 3'29"

In the bilberry and rotten stumps of a pinewood floor several shrews were active and vocal this damp June afternoon. Just as I had set the mics up to record, the local buzzards discovered me. Whether it was me or the buzzards, the shrews went quiet and disappeared. (With chaffinch.)

7 Late summer ... 8'03"

Scenes from mixed woodland late on a mid-September afternoon. The light breeze in the leaves mixes with the drone of a thousand flies' wings. With hoverfly, buzzard, jay, wren, robin, coal tit, siskin, red squirrel (chacking in irritation) and goldcrests gathering to roost.

8 October in a pinewood (5'14")

Darkness falling on the scattered scots pines of an open woodland above a highland river. After an afternoon of showers the wind is rising to show some clear patches in the sky ... and the red deer stags get going (crested tit can just be heard at one point). We talk of stags 'roaring', but much of it is moaning and bellowing.

9 ...and next morning ... 2'28"

Next morning was gale-force and dropping endless troupes of scandinavian birds from the sky. The thin sibilant calls here are from redwings.

10 Winter night ... 3'58"

With tawny owls courting. Like many owl species tawnies seem to be at their most vocal through the winter months. A female gives her sharp 'kewick' calls and the local males sing in response; she may have been visiting from futher afield, but I'm only guessing. And that's the mystery of owls; not only are they at home in the inhuman darkness of night, they also move about on silent wings.