Garreg Ddu reservoir, Elan Valley, at 7.20 am
It's 5am on a rather chilly spring morning and, once again, we're in the woodland bordering Garreg Ddu in the Elan Valley. I never tire of visiting this particular spot at dawn, despite the 40 minute walk in along a rather treacherous path in the dark...
There is barely a glimmer of light in the sky &, against the backdrop of a nearby stream, Tawny Owls are calling in the distance. A Nuthatch trills, followed by the repeated song of a Redstart, and a lone Common Toad calls from somewhere in the undergrowth.
After a while, a Blue Tit follows & then, at about 7 minutes, a brief flutter of wings is followed by the rather grating chatter of a Mistle Thrush, and then another. They seem very agitated as they fly rapidly amongst the surrounding trees. After moving around for a while, they come in close. It's still quite dark and I can just see their silhouettes against the sky, high in the tree canopy. They sound as if they're defending their territory against something, though I don't hear or see any obvious aerial predators & my furry microphones are far below! Meanwhile, a Blue Tit sings its spring song, and I hear Blackbird, Wren & a few other birds further away.
In many ways this is a typical early-season soundscape here in the Elan Valley except that, due to it being Easter Sunday, there are very few aircraft in the sky, and this is the first time that I've managed to publish a single, unbroken block of sound from this location without having to edit out aircraft overflights!
Recorded: 2019-04-21 0510
Location: 52.2719 -3.5961
Download full recording:
19min, 31MB, .ogg format)
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