The MoKS Residency: last post from Australia, 2013.

heli
It is often said that the anticipation of a holiday is more beneficial than travel itself. We escape the difficulties of work by dreaming of the future, the prospect of a journey keeping us buoyant throughout the year.

With my 4 week residency in Estonia drawing closer my mind is filled with predictions of the unfamiliar sounds that will surround me there. Among other things I especially hope to be able to record the sounds of snow and ice, something not available in this Australian sub-tropical climate.

But what of the sounds that I will, albeit temporarily, leave behind? As we approach the Australian summer there are a number of animals whose calls signal the arrival of this hot and humid season.

Below are a few of the regular sounds that mark this season in this sub-tropical region. The illustrations of the birds were painted by John Gould, a British ornithologist who identified 328 new species during his time in Australia from 1838-1840:

kookaburra_gould
Kookaburras at dawn, nature’s alarm clock. The call of the Kookaburra is an interesting example of the cultural nature of listening. Where Australians hear the Kookaburra’s call as a joyful laugh, visitors to Australian hear the screaming of monkeys:

masked_lapwing_gould
Masked-lapwings, more commonly known as Spur-winged Plovers. These birds lay their eggs on the ground and viciously swoop anyone remotely walking in their vicinity. This recording is of a plover couple attacking me as I walked along my driveway:

australian_magpie
Magpies in the morning. Early colonialists accused Australian birds of not having a musical voice, yet the vocalisation of the magpie contests this early claim:

bladder cicada
Bladder Cicadas calling from the trees at twilight. These cicadas are so loud that they are painful to the ear. They are as impressive as they are irritating:
I’m looking forward to listening to the “Old World”. For me it will be “the shock of the new”.

The next post will be from Venice, Italy. Till then …

16 thoughts on “The MoKS Residency: last post from Australia, 2013.”

  3. Hi
    Have a great time in Mooste. I used to live in Estonia and my father in Law lives in that town (small world seeing that I randomly came across your site!)

    I know MOKS as well and I’m sure you will have a great time there. Just make sure to pack warm clothes, it’s getting cold there already. I hope you’ll have time to visit Tallinn as well as it’s a really stunning city.

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    1. It is a small world, isn’t it? I keep hearing such positive things about Estonia, so I’m really looking forward to this trip. I think the winter temperature will be a shock to the system but that is part of the pleasure of travel,(well, in theory!). Thanks for dropping by.

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  4. As I can’t get a helicopter lift to Estonia too, I just have a look across the sphere to where you live. Is that a natural reserve, something like a UNESCO biosphere?
    It looks so different from what I have as images from Australia …

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    1. I hope the helicopter has enough fuel capacity to get to Australia. The images are not of a national park, they are photos of the valley where I live. Australia is a pretty big place with a lot of diversity. I’m sure the images you have in mind are true for some parts of the country!

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  5. Thank you so much for this! All of favorite birds wrapped up in a beautiful blog that shows a kinship to the natural world.
    I found your blog in a serendipitous set of searches, hunting for information on a particular bird and its call…. and with your knowledge I’m sure you can put an end to my search!

    The bird in questions calls out “ooo-warhh” at regular intervals, and while I know I know this bird I just can’t seem to recall its name.

    I took a rather clumsy video this morning from my front yard, Sunshine coast, Queensland. The bird call can be picked up from amongst the others.

    I would greatly appreciate your expertise, but understand if you do not have the time.

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  6. Thank you so much! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one, although I sometimes see a not so green variety around here. Thank you for all your help, I appreciate greatly. I searched the net for 2 days, on the second day recorded the bird’s call with my camera.
    Have a great fondness for birds and they seem to feel no fear of me.

    One year I visited a grey bower bird every day for a year; I watched him build his nest, how fascinating to watch as he decorated it. He seemed young and did not get a mate that year. The following year he and I enjoyed our connection, me watching him, he watching me. It warmed my heart to see a lovely lady bowerbird accept him & his nest, the second year.

    Peace & Blessed Be

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  7. Hi Jay-Dea. Great website! Found your work trying to identify some of the amazing birdsong we heard on the Sydney north shore fringes of Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park during a recent stay (your magpie sings nothing like ours (!) – I love it!). Thought you might be interested in the work of a friend in London – Grant Smith: you can find him here: http://soundcamp.self-noise.net/soundcamp_about.html and http://self-noise.net/index.html . All the best. Eamonn – London, UK

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  8. Pingback: Sound Blog Review: Sounds Like Noise | Janice's Sound Blog

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