Birdvideos

First here is another composition, a small movie featuring the three imitators presented above: bluethroat, marsh warbler and song thrush. (Swedish speaker voice). The clips are from 2012–2014 but (this version of) the composition from 2017.

In Grästorp, not far from Lake Vänern, the river Nossan forms a series of waterfalls that previously powered a sawmill. Now the bridge at Forshall is a well-known place for birding. I am planning a movie with birds from Forshall; here are three clips intended to be used in it. First an adult and a young Grey Wagtail (forsärla) on 17 May 2017. Camera: Panasonic GH4 with Camera: GH4 with Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, sound: inbuilt microphone (I think).

The following two sequences are from the same occasion, 17 May 2017. First you see two Common Sandpipers (drillsnäppor) in what I think is a territorial fight. It seems that one family lives at each side of the bridge at Forshall. At the end of the sequence you see a member of the downstream family searching for food. For an upstream inhabitant see next movie. Camera: Panasonic GH4 with Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, inbuilt microphone.

On May 28 2017, close to Byrum at north-Western Öland, I was out at 4:30 AM trying to get a glimpse of a Thrush Nightingale (näktergal). Suddenly I saw one sitting in a dead tree some 5 meters away, without noticing me. First it sat silent and looked like a museum specimen. Then it started singing. Camera: Panasonic GH4, Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, filmed in full HD but this copy is in 720p format. Sound: Telinga Pro V with Stereo DAT microphone. The Baltic sea in the background, no filtering.

While the song displayed here is characteristic of the thrush nightingale, these birds have a much greater repertoire. For longer, pure audio recordings of thrush nightingales, including two from a nearby location, see the Mastersingers page.

A little later on the same morning and the same location, using the same equipment, I got some close shots of a willow warbler (lövsångare). Like the song thrush, our commonest bird is rather shy and not quite easy to film when singing, but at this occasion I was standing in the direction of the rising sun so he probably did not see me at all. Among background voices: a thrush nightingale (best heard in second part).

In the natural reserve near Glassvik, Steninge (Halland), the landscape is kept open by grazing sheep. Enormous junipers (svenska: enbuskar), brambles (björnbärsbuskar) and honeysuckle (vildkaprifol; end of movie) are character bushes and plants. The reserve is a known location not only for Common Linnet (hämpling) but also for Common Rosefinch (rosenfink) which is actually becoming rare in Sweden. Here one first hears at least two singing linnets – only one seen, but look carefully, and you will surely hear a second one! Then the friendly call of a rosefinch – "nice to meet you", or "hej på dej, du" – is heard to the left, but the bird is hidden in dense foliage and I fail to catch it on video. A chaffinch (bofink) is also heard now and then, as are raindrops on the parabole. 6 AM on 11 June 2017, GH4, Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, sound: Telinga Pro V with Stereo DAT mic.

Now a few minutes of a singing Common Blackbird (koltrast) in the morning of 18 June 2017 near Hålanda, Sweden. You first see and hear a young Fieldfare (björktrast) who has briefly borrowed the blackbirds' favourite twig. While the fieldfare leaves you can hear the blackbird singing, and its sings while arriving at the twig. Panasonic GH4 with Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, corresponding to 1600mm, Telinga Pro 5W with Stereo DAT mic, no audio filtering, background sounds from wind and a nearby creek remain. I like to think of the bird's reaction around 1:17 as a protest against the car that just passed by. :-)

Blyth's Reed Warblers (Swedish: busksångare) are rare guests in Sweden. In 2017, at least one of them – most probably a couple – stayed a long time in Grästorp's community, Western Sweden, and became something of a celebrity among ornithologists and local people alike. The first short movie from my wife's and mine visit there on June 27, 2017 shows the beautiful setting of our recording of the warbler. It is close to the small church of Ås near Lake Vänern, Västergötland. If you can, go there! Your hear the warbler singing at least from around 0:18. Then you can see the Telinga parabola set for an audio recording, and of course the filmmaker (this is a meta-movie). Camera: Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter. The next movie was shot some 50 meters from here.

Below, then, are 5+ minutes of the remarkable sound production of Blyth's Reed Warbler (busksångare), recorded around 08:00 on June 27, 2017. Video: Panasonic GH4 and Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, equivalent to 1600 mm. Sound: Telinga Pro 5W with Stereo DAT microphone; a gentle noise filtering with Izotope RXII has been applied to dampen the sound from the nearby stream.

The video is based on three parts of a continuous 15+ minutes recording, from which the sections with any significant auditory or visual disturbances were deleted. For pure sound recordings that partly overlap with the movie but contain much more of the bird's song, see https://soundcloud.com/user-370092153/zoom0033-2 (etc).

For a few days in late August 2017, four Black-tailed Godwits (rödspovar, Limosa limosa ssp. islandica) rested in Kärrtorp's Wetland near Falkenberg, Halland. You see them already in the first wide angle scene together with several other birds, such as three Grey Herons (gråhägrar) and two Wood Sandpipers (grönbenor). There was a strong wind and some traffic and other noise, but you can still hear the adult wood sandpiper talking to its children in a later scene. Panasonic GH4 with Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, Telinga Pro 5W with Stereo DAT mic. No image stabilization or sound filtering attempted.