Misty spring wetlands
This recording was made in early spring in the vast wetlands near Wroclaw.
On headphones, you can hear a bleep at the beginning of the recording. It is very low frequencies. It sounds like someone is blowing into a bottle.
Everything was greening up and spring was bubbling up in full swing.
The cranes woke up slowly amid the din of other smaller birds hidden in the alder forest. The fog is gradually receding, it is very early in the morning, drops are beginning to drip from the trees after bathing in the morning mist.
You can gradually hear the cranes begin to fly away one by one and become more lively with each passing moment.
Young Beavers with family
I have been observing this feeding ground near Wroclaw for several years. It all started with a burrow at low water levels in the forest. Then beavers had to raise it slightly during wet years and a burrow was created and currently it is already a large structure.
That's where amazing things happen, which I could hear from afar in the spring while watching the beavers. This spring two baby beavers were born.
I deployed the microphones in the daytime, when all the household members were asleep, placing them on the feeding ground itself for three days.
One morning such a fantastic scene occurred. You can hear the whole active family. Older beavers gnawing secretly on the feeding grounds of the previously carried off parts of the felled trees, as well as young sucklings, who at that time were still drinking their mother's milk.
On headphones you can hear them running from left to right in the feeding chamber. You can also hear the very distinctive sound of a beaver as it cleans its fur with its teeth while catching a ripple of skin with its paws.
Snow on the marshes
Winter on the border between flooded frozen grasslands, where cranes spend the night, and the forest.
It's snowing, hitting the microphones gently.
Overhead the ravens are calling back. This is their territory. A doe passes in the reeds, listen for ducks, the soft sounds of shrikes, tits....
Cranes wake up and call out in the distance.
Whooper swans occupy revetments
Whooper swans, although still few nest in Poland (about 200 individuals - dynamic data), feel comfortable near Wroclaw.
They usually need quiet, well-hidden places. They are greatly helped by beavers, creating small or larger floodplains where the swans have adequate depth for feeding but also nooks and crannies for breeding.
At one such site, I was fortunate enough to record sound and, incidentally, a separate video at the moment of the arrival of the pair returning to their former revues after wintering probably on the nearby Oder River.
Swans come in from the river, approach the landing and after a while begin to call with their mating voice.
roaring in the alder
This footage is the result of three days of recording at the end of the 2024 roaring season.
The deer came very close to the hidden microphones and you can hear not only the roar but also its gasps.
In the background, other deer can be heard calling out across the forest.
A jay, presumably gathering acorns somewhere in the area, calls out in a warning voice.