I began wildlife-sound recording in the late 1960’s. Equipment then was hugely expensive, heavy and cost a small fortune in tape and batteries.
Today you see youngsters listening to pop-music on Minidisc recorders with specifications we could only dream about!
Excellent wildlife-sound recordings are possible with the Minidisc recorder. If you would like to know more about wildlife-sound recording, do a search on Google.
The microphone is the ear of the recorder - what it hears, will be recorded, including traffic, aircraft and people. The recorder’s own microphone may be suitable if you are close to your subject. However, a better quality microphone will help you make better recordings in a number of ways.
Knowing Your Birds
This is the slightly difficult bit. Many people think a bird is a bird and are happy to leave it at that. With a little practice, matching a sound or a song to a named bird is fairly easy. Early spring is a good time to begin. By early April most of our resident birds will have set up nesting territories and will sing most of the day, but early mornings and evenings are more reliable times. Only the male birds sing. In some species males and females are identical, but not all.
At this time most trees are still bare, so you can see the birds. Also at this time, our summer migrants won’t have arrived, so you don’t have to bother with them - yet.
A bird identification book from say, the RSPB, and binoculars are the basic essentials. If you can identify your birds and put a voice to them, you will be amazed how much more enjoyable is a trip to the countryside or your local park.
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