Our garden in Hålanda on 6 February 2019: A
singing female bullfinch (sv: domherre). It could perhaps be
called "whisper song" (sv: visksång). It is said that she and her male
only sing for each other. Camera: Panasonic GH4 with Olympus Zuiko Digital
ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter. Sound: Roede Videomic pro, some noise
removal with Izotope RXII.
Morups Tånge, Halland, 1 of March 2019:
Still ice at the shore but the first migrants have already arrived: three
Common Ringed Plovers (större strandpipare) and one Eurasian
Oystercatcher (strandskata). Panasonic GH4, Olympus Zuiko Digital ED
50-200 + 2x teleconverter, sound: Roede Videomic Pro (I believe).
The bigger cousin of the song thrush, the Mistle
Thrush (dubbeltrast) has a beautiful voice which reminds one of both
a blackbird and a song thrush. Here is one singing accompanied by among
others a chaffinch (bofink), a willow warbler (lövsångare,
a few appearances), a common wood pigeon (ringduva), a blackbird
(koltrast), and possibly another mistle trush and/or a song thrush
(taltrast). Please tell me what you hear! Hålanda, Sweden on 28 April 2019
around 8.30 PM, while the sun is setting. Camera: Panasonic GH4 with
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter. Sound: Telinga Pro V
with windscreen, Stereo DAT mic, no filtering. The low background "noise"
apart from wind is nearby running water.
In the morning of 4 June 2019, some 60–100
young starlings (starar) waited for their parents to feed them in
the trees close to our house in Hålanda. Although the whole event is very
social – in line with the general nature of starlings – it seems that the
adult birds only feed their own offspring. Several times you can see them
searching for the right mouths to fill. How they manage to find them is
not obvious! – It is a warm day and when your stomach is full, it is good
to rest… Camera: Panasonic GH5 with Panasonic Leica 12–60 mm lens, inbuilt
mic. Some digital zoom here and there, so the resolution is not full HD
all the way. P.S. "Bamba" is an old Swedish name for school lunch.
The following movie features two
Marsh
Warblers (kärrsångare), possibly a couple, singing at the same
time. Hålanda 19 June 2019, 5:20–5:53. For a background and the reasons
why I think they are a couple, see
https://www.xeno-canto.org/481968.
The time links work if you go directly to Vimeo (by clicking the film
title). You first hear one bird singing hidden in a dense shrub. At 0:37 I
start panning towards the right. Around 0:50 you begin to hear another
marsh warbler and at 1 min it appears at the top of a small shrub. From
1:05 it produces a series of wonderful sounds including many imitations.
The part after 1:25 was shot some 15–20 minutes later. Panasonic GH4,
first part with Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, last
part with an old but good Canon 400 mm 1:5.6 + 1.4x extender,
corresponding to 2.240 mm. Sound: Telinga Pro5W with Stereo DAT mic,
recorded directly on the film. The slight out-of-sync is due to the
distance. A lot of morning traffic, but no filtering except some volume
reduction in the first part.
Also compare the second movie from
2014
where a marsh warbler sings from the same shrub.
After 2011 (see
above)
there has not been any real "lemming year" (lämmelår) in the
Härjedalen-Jämtland mountains. When lemmings and other rodents are scarce,
as in 2019, most birds of prey leave the high mountain valleys and go
south again. On 25 June 2019, dozens of
Long-tailed Jaegers
(fjällabbar) had therefore gathered on the plateau of Flatruet,
Härjedalen, before leaving the area. Here are some of them. Camera:
handheld Panasonic GH5 with Panasonic-Leica 12–60 mm, a little image
stabilization added afterwards.
It is usually very difficult to film swifts
(tornseglare), but when they get the idea of flying around your house on
the same track again and again you have your chance. From our doorway,
Hålanda 29 July 2019. The show lasted for around an hour, and here are 2
minutes of it. Camera: Panasonic GH5 with Leica Panasonic 12–60 mm lens,
inbuilt microphone.
Here some shorebirds waiting to go south in
Beijershamn, Öland on 15 August 2019: a Wood Sandpiper
(sv: Grönbena), five Black-Tailed Godwits (rödspovar)
and five Common Snipes (enkelbeckasiner). The godwits
belong to the most common subspecies (ssp. limosa). Camera: Panasonic GH5
with Leica-Panasonic 20–60 and 50–200 mm lenses; close-ups with Canon
400/5.6 and 1.4 x extender, focal length corresponding to 2.240 mm. The
cows present did not seem to appreciate that a group of visitors made loud
noises when arriving. And the weather became dramatic... best seen in
full-screen.
Here is another collage from Morup's Tånge,
late afternoon of 24 August 2019. Among others, some Oystercatchers
(strandskator), Redshanks (rödbenor), Black-Headed
Gulls (skrattmåsar), young Red Knots
(kustsnäppor), a few Eurasian Curlews (storspovar), a Bartailed
Godwit (myrspov) – check the difference in size! – and a Brent
Goose (prutgås) can be seen feeding, all in their own way.
Panasonic GH5 with Panasonic Leica 12–60 and 50–200 mm, some long distance
shots with Canon 400 mm 1:5.6 + 1.4x extender. Filmed in 10 bits colour,
but this copy converted to 8 bits ProRes 422 for ease of editing in FCP7.
No Telinga parabola this time.