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Posts Tagged ‘Dunlin’

The calm before the storm

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 9.11.2025| Leave a Comment »

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Here is a recording that came as a surprise after I put it in Spectrogram, because I was sure that I had not recorded anything special.
Earlier the evening before the recording started, a lot of wind had been forecast for later that night. So I was not spreading recording equipment around me as I would have liked in this wonderful and secret place in the highlands.
However, I decided to use Lewitt LCT540s in an IRT cross in a sheltered place from the coming storm. Two of the four microphones were pointed as much as possible into the ground, while the other two were allowed to point out into an open area. The recording seemed to only sound interesting in the wind that was present when I started the recording. The entire time I had been at this place in the highlands, I had not heard birds or any other life. Only in the wind and the flow of water in the nearby water sources.
But later that night while I was sleeping, a completely calm weather came that seemed to awaken a lot of birdlife. Birds that I had neither seen nor heard earlier the days before.
However, I never noticed this peaceful weather that night or this bird song. I just went to sleep in the breeze and woke up in a storm. It was therefore quite amusing to discover that I had managed to record the birdsong even though the microphones were placed in the wrong place for such a thing. It was first and foremost the microphones facing the ground that captured the most bird song. Those facing out into the open mainly recorded the behavior of Red necked phalarope which were at a considerable distance and goose in far distance.
To be honest, considering the placement of the microphones, this is a surprisingly good recording. This can probably be attributed to these excellent Lewitt microphones, also because they were not very visible to the birds that are best heard because they do not emit warning sounds. But if I had worn the microphones in something other than fur and been positioned closer to where the birds were, I would have achieved incredibly clear recordings in the most subtle way. In addition, very distant sounds would have become more clear and focused. But it is always difficult to be prepared for such weather conditions that it is possible to be without fur in Iceland when such times are perhaps 6-12 hours a month.
You can hear in the entire recording running water, also a kind of rumbling from running water that I assume could be a stream of spring water below the ground. But in this area there are huge water sources that could probably serve a city of millions with fresh water. The sound was recorded at +50dB gain and increased by +20dB in post up to -10dB. No RX noise reduction, mainly because I have never been satisfied with the result when I have used the LCT540. But EQ was used. Sharply pulled down below 50hz and above 10Khz, mainly to bring down unnecessary rumble and white noise from the equipment.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid volume.
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(mp3 265kbps / 66Mb)

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6
Mics: Lewitt LCT540s (IRT cross setup)
Pix: Samsung S22

Weather: Calm cloudy, about 7°C
Location. Secret place on the Icelandic highland

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The White Wagtail in the ruins

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 17.5.2025| 2 Comments »

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Here is an audio recording from a secret spot in the central highlands of Iceland that I have previously shared sounds from. But I will not say where that place is.
By pure coincidence, I was on the outskirts of the central highlands on June 29, 2024 when I heard that a road into the highlands that had been closed all winter had been opened. So I was among the first to enter the highlands and this secret spot this summer.
There are old stone/turf ruins at the site where I noticed a White Wagtail had made a nest inside the wall. It was quite windy so it was the perfect opportunity to record what was happening inside the ruins.
For the first few hours, I did not notice much birdlife at the ruins, until very early in the morning. The recording began soon after I noticed the birds had arrived in the area. It was clear that the birds were not happy with these gray furry neighbors so close to their nesting site. One of the birds tried to scare the microphones away with wingbeats and warning sounds. But the microphones stood firm and did not move, so later that night the birds took the microphones in peace.
Later in the morning it was heard that the White Wagtail can make various sounds, probably for communication, but that will be the subject of another post.
This area has incredibly abundant freshwater springs, so it’s a real surprise every time I visit the area. The sound of the water from these springs can be heard in the background of the recording, as well as other birdlife that is always found in such water and vegetation oases in the Icelandic highlands, which are otherwise just a black desert.
The recording was made with a Rode NT1a inside the walls of the ruins. The sound, or stereo image, is therefore a bit strange, but you get used to it.
Recorder was Zoom F3. Digital gain at 256 and HPF 40hz.
In post, add +13dB to normalize, fade in & out, and then downgraded to mp3

(mp3 256mbps / 60Mb)

Recorder: Zoom F3
Mics: Rode NT1a (NOS 90°-30cm)
Pix: Samsung S22

Weather: Calm up to 8m/s, partly cloudy.
Location: Secret place

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July morning at Sultartangalón

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 22.7.2023| Leave a Comment »

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Early in July 2023 I spent one night at Sultártangalón lagoon recording in three locations.
In the morning when I was leaving, it was sunny, calm and very hot, in the Icelandic way. The sight over the mirror smooth lagoon made me stop the car and enjoy the view. The recorders were ready and connected in the car, so I quickly set them up by the reservoir and took a short walk while they were recording.
The result was this. Typical Icelandic highland silence. Nothing interesting as an audio recording, but what caught my attention was the background noise of waterfalls and streams across the lagoon. This noise changed the EQ slowly in a variable thermal upstream due to the influence of the sun radiation.
Several bird species can be heard in this recording. These include Raven, Golden Plover, Dunlin, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Red Throated Loon.
This was recorded with MKH8020/8040 in a fur wind shield, which was not the best choice, because the silence was considerable. Audio was recorded on MP6 with 50dB gain and in post-processing the gain was increased by another 20dB so they reached -10dBu.The MKH microphones were therefore not the most suitable for this moment. It would have been better if I had recorded with the LCT540s in IRT, to better capture all the small details all around.
To cancel out the loss of certain frequencies due to the fur wind shield, I raised the mid frequency by +2dB.
This is a rather sensitive recording. So I wasn’t using RX de-noise. But instead since nothing in the recording reaches frequencies higher than 8Khz, I lowered the EQ above 10Khz by a few dB to reduce the self noise in the microphones.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid volume.
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  (mp3 256kbps/56Mb)

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre 6
Mics: Sennheiser MKH8020/8040 (Baffled AB)
Pix: Samsung S22

Location: 64.230420, -19.383488
Weather: Sunny, clear sky, calm, around 20°C

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The shelter at Brunnahæðir

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 10.4.2022| 1 Comment »

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I always miss those times in the last century when I rode on a bicycle alone for weeks in the highlands. I knew every single road and trail that could be found on maps, and other routes too. I had a special ability to look at maps and make detailed travel plans based on route conditions and weather forecasts. I knew very well my physical limitations and all the places where I could seek from bad weather. Therefore I never had any problems in my travels.
Without meeting people or seeing human structure, nature and I merged into one. The journeys were therefore both mentally and physically rejuvenation.
After the year 2002, cars and traffic began to increase rapidly in Iceland. Mountain huts that used to be shelters were now closed. Many emergency huts were removed due to poor handling. It became increasingly difficult to travel without being disturbed by noisy humans and without shelter in remote locations.
One of these very few emergency huts that still exist and are open and have saved many lives is on a Kaldidalur route. For me this hut was often a first overnight stop from Reyakjavík on the way to cross the highland.
I was in Kaldidalur 28th of May 2017 to record the surroundings. I decided to record beside the hut to record a familiar sound.
This is a typical soundscape for Icelandic highland. Birds in the distance and windy and if not windy and rainy then complete silence.
Inside the hut was normally the same sound but more silent, except if there was buzzing fly in the window.
Even though it is many years since this soundscape was part of my daily experience, I get an undeniable nostalgia for the past for listening to this recording
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at mid or low level.
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  (mp3 256Kbps / 63,7Mb)

Recorder: Sound Devices 744T
Mics: Rode NT1 NOS
Pix: Canon EOS-M

Location: 64.447652, -20.961026
Weather. Cloudy, 4-10m/sec, drizzle rain. 5°C

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Flói Nature reserve, 3rd of July 2021

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 15.3.2022| Leave a Comment »

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It has been several years since I published a recording from Flói nature reserve. The reason is more or less because of foul weather in recent years when I have had the opportunity to record there.
It was no exception last summer from late April to mid July. It was cold, windy and wet most of the time which is actually the high season for birdsong recording.
I went there on the 3rd of July 2021 and recorded overnight. The weather was calm in the beginning but the wind increased over the night. I was also struggling with increased sea tide and therefore a surf noise from the coast line, actually at the same time when the birds were most active during the dawn.
My mics were Lewitt LCT540s in IRT cross setup. Most of the bird’s activity was in front of channel 1&2. Most „silence“ was in front of channel 2&3 and most of the surf and traffic noise was at channel 4&1.
It surprised me how much traffic was there the whole night. There was almost constant rumble in the air during the ten hours I was recording, except between four and five o’clock in the morning. This noise was much more audible than I remember in my earlier recordings. The reason could be found in different mic setup and mics. Ten years ago I used to use NT1a in NOS or AB, pointing towards the open field and keeping the nearest road and coastline behind. I have also used MKH20 in AB which is less sensitive for these details than large capsule mics.
It takes time to search in this 10 hour long recording for some nice sounding 30 minutes moments. Listening to the whole four channels it starts with heavy traffic noise in all channels, then surf noise. Then traffic noise again until the wind and the sun makes the air so unstable close to noon, both traffic noise and bird activity almost disappear in the wind noise.
But with an IRT cross rig I have many options. I can turn off the channel or channels which are disturbing for the soundscape I am looking for.
The recording below is a very good example of this. Instead of using all four channels and mixing them to stereo, I use only channel 2&3 (NOS 90°/30cm) to avoid the surf noise. The time when it starts is about 04:15 so there is almost no traffic noise, but anyway, the recording starts and ends with some engine noise in the distance.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at mid or low level.
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Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: Lewitt LCT540s,  NOS 30cm/90°
Pix: Canon EOS R

Location: 63.900944, -21.191958
Weather: Calm to breeze, partly cloudy, ca 5-10°C

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Soundscape at Fjallsjökull glacier

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 15.12.2020| Leave a Comment »

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There is a place near Fjallsjökull glacier I have tried to record several times in recent years. But I´ve never been happy with the result.  Mainly because of noisy traffic from road no.1 and/or surf noise from Breiðamerkurfjara beach or because of weather.
But COVID19 gave me an wonderful opportunity to record this place without tourist traffic in June 2020.
This place is a small glacial corrie south of Fjallsjökull glacier. It is a small, wet area, with several fresh water springs. Arctic flora brings lots of birds to this place so the soundscape can be very interesting with a rumbling glacier in the background.
This is a part of several hours long recording. The time is around 5 o’clock in the morning. Flock of noisy Barnacle geese has already landed not far away from the microphones. Through the whole recording these Barnacle geese come closer and closer to the microphones, so be careful, in the end they get loud.  Early in the recording two Whimbrels sing an interestingly long „love song“. Other birds are audible too, like Golden plover, Dunlin, Rock Ptarmigan and Red Throated Diver.
Once, about 2km away, a big piece of ice breaks off the glacier into the lagoon with noisy consequences.
Background noise is mainly a surf from the ocean behind the microphones, about 5 km away.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid level, or in speakers at low level.

(mp3 256kbps / 62Mb)

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Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics. Lewitt LCT540s (NOS setup)
Pix: Canon EOS-R

Weather: Calm, Cloudy, about 4°C
Location: 64.010735, -16.391960

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Dögun við Eyrar

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 20.8.2020| Leave a Comment »

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Thanks to COVID, I got a unique opportunity this summer to record in places I have so far not been able to record because of traffic, mainly due to tourists. One such site was Skeiðarársandur, a broad sandy wasteland along Iceland’s south-eastern coast, between the Vatnajökull icecap and the sea. This area has been a „desert“ with deadly glacial rivers for centuries. But due to global warming and receding glaciers, rivers have disappeared. Instead, vegetation like moss, grass and trees has occupied some areas without human intervention.
It is therefore obvious that biodiversity will change significantly in the coming years.
Here is a part of an 8-hour-long recording that was taken just east of the dry riverbed of Skeiðarár, which was a huge glacial river for centuries until a few years ago when it disappeared due to changes in Skeiðarárjökull glacier.
This is a recording of silence. The microphones were placed beside a small creek which can be found all over Skeiðarársandur. Because of the wind I did not use a tripod, they just stood on the windshield on the ground which gave a pretty good result.
The background noise is mainly a gust of wind stroking the ground and surf among the coast, about 20-30Km away
Birds in this recording are Common Ringed Plover, European Golden Plover, Dunlin, Purple Sandpiper, Common Snipe, Whimbrel, Common Redshank, Whooper Swan, Greylag Goose.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid level, or in speakers at low level.
The name of this blog „Dögun við Eyrar“ means „Dawn at Eyrar“ (Eyrar is the name of the place)
Other recordings from Skeiðarársandur can be found here

( mp3 256kbps / 63Mb )
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Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: Lewitt LCT540s (IRTcross) channels counter clockwise 1-2-3-4 = L-R-L-R
Pix: Canon Eos R

Loation: 63.972468, -16.956438
Weather: Clear sky. Gust up to 6m/sec. around 10°C
Recording time between 5.am to 6.am

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The silence on Vesturöræfi

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 23.10.2019| 6 Comments »

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Natural silence is my favorite recording material, mainly because now a days it is so difficult to find it and it gets more difficult every year. I have been interested for salience in many years, or since I discovered it in my cycling trip all over Icelandic’s highlands about three decades ago. It was before the tourist boom and before Icelanders started to travel in their own country. So I was sometimes alone for many days in the desert. This moments in deep silence have inspired me so much it has shaped my life for lifetime.
One of this quiet places in Iceland was north of Vatnajökull glacier.
Shortly after the millennium, the traffic in this area increased a lot, especially because the Icelandic government had planed to build the biggest dam in Europe (Kárahnjúkastífla dam)  to make electricity for one ALCOA aluminum smelter in Reyðarfjörður, east of Iceland.
All that project ended as a huge natural disaster, which also split the people´s community in Iceland into two groups with and against this project. More information about this disaster can be found on Saving Iceland´s website.
Last time I visited this area was early summer 2018, I spent a night in Vesturöræfi on a place named Kofaalda.
I remembered my first thought when I sat up the recording gear. I was going to waste gigabytes for nothing because I heard nothing. Totally nothing. Well, there were some birds in distance …and yes, on the left side, behind hill about 2 km away there was the river Sauðá and on the right side a waterfall in Kringislá river about 4-5 km away.
I started recording.
It was not until last summer when I got opportunity to make a noise reduction on this recording, I noticed, after about 90dB gain this silence was rich of sound.
Most of this night I was struggling with rumble by gust. But between 5 and 6 o´clock the wind went down and something unexpected happened above end near the microphone.
Several bird species are in this recording: Dunlin, Golden plover, Pink-footed goose, Purple sandpiper, Common ringed plover, Snow bunting and Arctic skua.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid level, or in speakers at low level.
If you have a problem to play recordings in this blog try to open each blog-post in new frame or tab

( mp3 256kbps / 48Mb )
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Recorder. MixPre6
Mics: Sennheiser MKH20  (AB40 setup laying on the ground)
Pix. Canon EOS-M50. See pictures of the landscape which was drowned by the bloody Kárahnjúkar dam project. „Lost landscape“ Part 1 & Part 2  and more pictures „Cycling trip to east fjords 2006“ Part 1 & Part 2
Location: 64.833417, -15.848694
Weather: Light gust, Calm, cloudy about 3°C

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Dawn at Kjallaksstaðavogur

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 22.8.2019| 2 Comments »

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It is rear now a days to discover new places without traffic or engine nose. I found one in June 2019. It was at Fellströnd, in the northwest of Iceland. That means I have natural silence for more than a one hour. It is a south part of a peninsula which only have gravel roads and no shopping service so motorist are normally not driving there for pleasure.
Less human traffic means more biodiversity. It thrives better in places with less farming and fast driving cars. One roadkill can as well mean a death of the whole family. Car covered with smashed bugs means less food for birds… and so on. This is clearly visible and audible in those areas which have „industry“ farming and lots of fast driving traffic.
No traffic, or engine noise, means more natural silence and more transparent soundscape. Therefor it is very interesting to listen to this recordings. It is even possible to hear sheep footsteps far away and detect what bird species are in the area, even far away. In fact it is possible to analyze the situation of the biodiversity.
This is a high gain recording, recorded at +50dB. Gain was then increased in post about +25dB, normalized at -8dB and gently NR.
This is a part of 10 hour recording. This part was recorded between 7 and 8 in the morning at 21st of June.
Many bird species are audible in this recording. Black tailed Godwit, Common Redsank, Whimprel, Red necked Phalarope, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Common Ringed Plover, European Golden Plover, Dunlin, Raven, Redwing, Purple Sandpiper, Meadow Pipit, Geylag Goose, Whooper Swan, Red Throated Diver and Common Eider. I am almost sure I have not counted them all.
You can hear sheep footsteps which was though far away, also birds wing flaps as a low rumble noise.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low or medium level.

(Mp3 256Kbps / 48Mb)
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Recorder: Sonosax SX-R4+
Mics: Sennheiser MKH20 (AB40)
Pix: Canon EOS M50
Location: 65.169836, -22.404601
Weather: Calm, cloudy ca 13°C

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Noisy anglers on the lake Holmavatn

Posted in Mannlíf, Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 20.7.2019| 9 Comments »

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Hólmavatn is a heath lake in the interior in west of Iceland between the two valley Kjarrárdalur and Hvítársíða. It is a part of a big lake system on a heath named Arnarvatnsheiði.
I have once before record the soundscape by this lake before. That was mostly a struggle with wind all the time, so I did not get anything interesting.
But at 22nd of June 2019 the weather forecast was perfect for this area, clear sky and calm most of the night.
I arrived with my gear around 9 pm at my previous recording place. It was still windy and some anglers about 500m away east of the lake. I quickly put up my rigs knowing that a calm weather meant just lot of gnats. I decided to put a two stereo pairs close to the shore, facing out to the lake. LCT450s in NOS about 60 m east from my car and MKH20 pair 70 m in the west. Suddenly around 11pm the wind stopped to blow and I started the recording.
What glorious soundscape. All those small tiny things and all those bird species. The LCT540s sounds much cleaner and brighter than MKH20, I guess mainly because of the different location.
But there was a big problem which I did not notice with my bare ears. The anglers made so much noise it was clear they would destroy my „natural silence“ recordings this night. They were playing a radio all the time, talking, starting car engines, and even worse, soon after I started the recording two of them started a motor boat. All this noise lasted for about two or two and a half hours.
Later that night when this noisy anglers were gone, all the birdsong became calm and less active. I am not sure why, but afterwards when I listened to the recordings it seemed like the anglers on the boat were disturbing birds on their habitat.
Following recording is a part of this „anglers moment“, probably the best part because the motorboat was mostly far east on the lake most of this time.
In the beginning of the recording you can clearly hear tiny sparks. It is coming from foam which forms between stones in the shore during windy days. When the bobbles in this foam blows, they make this tiny sparking sound. During the recording the sparks get fewer and lower because the weather is calm and no waves on the lake.
But there are so many bird species I guess I will not know them all. Great Northern Diver, Read Throated Diever, Arctic Tern, Whooper Swan, Pink Footed Goose, Black Headed Gull, Golden Plower, Dunlin, Whimbrell, Common Snipe, Common Redshank, Arctic Skua, Rock Ptarmigan and probably some other which you are welcome, if you know, to name in comments below.
You will hear the fish jumping and Arctic Tern hunting on the lake surface. Other background noise other than human noise from anglers is mainly from the river Kjarrá which flows in the Kjarrárdalur valley 4Km north of the lake .
This recording got a gently noise reduction, mainly because of high gain.
It was recorded with 47dB gain. In post the gain was normalized +26dB up to -5dB
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid level, or in speakers at medium level.

(mp3 256kbps / 68Mb)
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Recorder: Sonosax SX-R4+
Mics: Lewitt LCT540s (NOS setup)
Pix: Canon EOS M50
Location: 64.799603, -20.895132
Weather: Dry. Mostly calm up to 5m/sec

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