{"id":1228,"date":"2016-01-26T11:28:34","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T11:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/?p=1228"},"modified":"2016-01-29T18:22:33","modified_gmt":"2016-01-29T18:22:33","slug":"mallorca-of-the-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/?p=1228","title":{"rendered":"Mallorca of the north"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 2016<\/strong>
\nIn June 2014 I went to the annual meeting<\/a> of the Wildlife Sound Recording<\/a>
\nSociety<\/a> at Rutland Wetland Reserve<\/a>. Chris Watson<\/a> the new president of
\nthe society presented sound recordings made on filming trips for Sir David
\nAttenborough\u2019s series Frozen Planet<\/a>\u2013 no need to mention how inspiring it
\nwas once again.<\/p>\n

Chris invited me to participate in one of the Wildeye<\/a>\u2019s workshops he
\nregularly gives together with Jez riley French<\/a> \u2013 preferably the one on
\nIceland.<\/p>\n

Despite several invitations to visit a close friend on Iceland, I never took the
\nchance \u2013 for a simple reason: I heard so much awful stories about the mass<\/strong>
\ntourism<\/strong> going on there since a few years.
\nBut one week with two of my favorite sound recordists<\/strong> and a couple of so far
\nunknown but surely surely interesting people would be a good occasion to
\ncheck my prejudices<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So I booked the workshop and decided to prolong my stay for another four
\nweeks which should be enough to visit my friend at Sn\u00e6fellsness<\/strong>, to get a
\nrough overview and of course some sound recordings of species I was
\ndesperately searching for quite a long time.
\nHowever, my priority would be to obtain high quality recordings<\/strong> of ambiences,
\nice and wind without any traffic noise.<\/p>\n

\"mieste\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At the beginning of June<\/strong>, I packed my car and drove up north to Denmark to
\ntake the ferry to Sey\u00f0isfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur<\/strong> which usually takes three days. I wasn\u2019t too
\nhappy with the ferry connection for the simple fact that it takes one stopover
\non the Faroe Islands<\/strong> \u2013 well known for the ritualized mass murder<\/strong> of Pilot Whales
\nGlobicephala melas<\/em> that take place there every year.
\nOne day before my arrival at the Faroe Islands the first massacre<\/a> of the year
\nhappened. It was the beginning of a series of massacres which has cost more<\/strong>
\nthan 500 whales the life<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In T\u00f3rshavn harbour a local sold fresh Pilot Whale meat<\/strong> to tourists who are
\nhungry for extraordinary experiences in the Arctic. What a disgusting start of
\nmy trip.<\/p>\n

Two positive aspects of a commercial ferry are the wealth of sounds and
\npotential interesting people. I took advantage of both.<\/p>\n

\"norroena\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had luck, during the trip rather bad weather<\/strong> came up and with it great sounds!
\nMost people seemingly preferred to lay in their beds during the storm which
\nminimized sounds from people<\/strong> talking, shopping or walking by.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PFR10917_2-00_150608_wind_deck_pitch_LAV-SP.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

football pitch at deck<\/p>\n

In a caf\u00e9 I spotted a familiar face<\/strong> and after a few minutes I got it: it was Tobias<\/a>
\nMennle<\/a>, a well known and one of the most successful wildlife film makers
\nfrom Germany.
\nI took the chance to introdruce myself and we immediately slipped into the first
\nof many professional discussions and adventure tales<\/strong> from our journeys through
\ncentral asia and the far east. Finally he invited me to accompany him in order
\nto make a film about Arctic Foxes Vulpes lagopus<\/em> in Iceland\u2019s northern-eastern
\ntip called Hornbjarg. Bingo!<\/p>\n

Right after I left the ferry I realised that this trip won\u2019t be just an ordinary trip
\nthrough a unusual and unfamiliar type of landscape. I was literally shocked
\nby the beauty of the landscape around Sey\u00f0isfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

\"seydisfjoerdur\"<\/a>
\n\"ring-road\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My first stage was the Wildeye<\/a> sound recording course in the vicinity of lake
\n\u00dalflj\u00f3tsvatn<\/strong> in the \u00deingvellir<\/strong> area.
\nSince a lot of people already have written about their experiences at those
\ncourses and Chris\u2019s and Jez\u2019s reputation speaks for themselves I will keep
\nit short:
\nThe course was as expected very interesting, instructive and enormously fun<\/strong>!
\nWe usually made day trips<\/strong> to interesting locations and afterwards at the late
\nevening listening sessions<\/strong> in our hotel together.<\/p>\n

Some famous spots like the Vatnaj\u00f6kuls\u00fej\u00f3\u00f0gar\u00f0ur<\/strong> or Gullfoss<\/strong> water fall
\nwere so overcrowded by tourists<\/strong> and noise polluted<\/strong> by the things coming with
\nthem like cars, sightseeing planes etc. that we barely could achieve recordings<\/strong>
\neven after midnight<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"skaftafell_02\"<\/a>
\n\"skaftafell_03\"<\/a>
\n\"selatangar\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Three Icelanders<\/strong> accompanied the course. Hafd\u00eds Bjanard\u00f3ttir<\/a> presented
\nher new CD with field recordings from Iceland released by the german label
\nGruenrekorder<\/a>. Magnus Bergsson<\/a> a super enthusiastic sound recordist and
\nfanatic cyclist accompanied us for field trips. Iceland\u2019s sound art celebrity
\nFinnbogi P\u00e9tursson<\/a> guided us to rather less crowded spots and organised
\na recording evening in the local hydro power station! Many thanks for that<\/strong>!<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PFR11053_1-10_150614_rnphal-2-ADV_is_ulfjlotsvatn_MS.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR11053, 1-10, 150614
\nRed-necked Phalarope, advertising, male, female
\n\u00dalflj\u00f3tsvatn, Iceland, MS-Stereo<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PFR11042-4_1-10_150614_csnipe_rnphal_atern_glgoo_meapip_crshank_dunl_egplov_tuftduck_glgoo_is_ulfljotsvatn_MS.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR11042-4, 1-10, 150614
\nCommon Snipe, Red-necked Phalarope, Arctic Tern, Greylag Goose, Meadow Pipit,
\nCommon Redshank, Dunlin, European Golden Plover, Tufted Duck
\n\u00dalflj\u00f3tsvatn, Iceland, MS-Stereo<\/p>\n

Like always it was great to meet up with a group of sound enthusiasts and
\nI hope that those new connections and friendships will last!<\/p>\n

After the course I went to Sn\u00e6fellsnes<\/strong>, the famous peninsular in Iceland\u2019s
\nwest. I met up with my friend who lives there, and together we did a first walk
\nto get an overview of the area<\/strong> around her home.<\/p>\n

I immediately felt in love with the breathtaking landscape and asked myself
\nwhy I didn\u2019t visit her before. In order to avoid more tourists<\/strong> in that particular area
\nI had to promise her not to describe the exact location so I do not provide any
\ndetails here to respect that.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PFR11255_2-10_150617_ceider-borealis-FL-AD-M-F-AV_rtloon-1-AD-FC_is_urthvalafjoerdur_REF-S.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR11255, 2-10, 150617
\nCommon Eider, flock, male, female, advertising
\nRed-throated Loon, call in flight
\nSn\u00e6fellsnes, Iceland, Telinga parabolic reflector<\/p>\n

During the next days I made some short distance hikes and made plenty<\/strong>
\nsound recordings<\/strong> of waders, Common Eider Somateria molissima<\/em> and spent
\nhours at a lake in hope the most desired Great Northern Loon Gavia immer<\/em>
\nwould call or even \u2018sing\u2019.
\nI\u2019ve never seen so much \u2018water birds\u2019 and meadow breeding birds in one
\nplace before which actually made it really difficult to obtain any single sound<\/strong>
\nin such a rich soundscape.
\nThese seemingly healthy biotopes<\/strong> made me think again about Bernie Krause<\/a>\u2019s
\ntheories of acoustic niches<\/strong> and the sound of healthy\/unhealthy habitats.<\/p>\n

One day I met up with two guys from the workshop, Bob Kellough<\/a> a Los Angeles
\nbased sound designer and Bethan Parkes<\/a>, outstanding sound artist and composer
\nfrom Glasgow.
\nWe did a round trip along Sn\u00e6fellsnes<\/strong>\u2019s coast and made recordings of caves,<\/strong>
\nstreams<\/strong>, of course birds and the well known Hellissandur radio mast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"snaefellsnes_01\"<\/a>
\n\"snaefellsnes_02\"<\/a>
\n\"snaefellsnes_03\"<\/a>
\n\"snaefellsnes_04\"<\/a>
\n\"snaefellsnes_05\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After a fabulous stay at the peninsular I had to continue my journey, made
\nanother night drive to \u00cdsafj\u00f6r\u00f0ur<\/strong> in order to take the boat to Hornbjarg<\/strong> early
\nin the morning.<\/p>\n

\"west-fjord_01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The boat trip took me three hours<\/strong> along beautiful rock formations and ten
\nthousands of breeding gulls and auks.
\nRight after my arrival I realised that another coincident would provide even
\nmore options for my stay here. Right next to Tobias\u2019s tent the Arctic Fox camp<\/strong>
\nwas located. The camp was organised by Ester Rut Unnsteind\u00f3ttir<\/a> from
\nReykjavik University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During these days I made countless field trips with Tobias, Ester or alone to
\ncapture the far-reaching voices of Arctic Foxes Vulpes lagopus<\/em>, songs of
\nSnow Buntings Plectrophenax nivalis<\/em> or the atmosphere of one of the huge
\nbird colonies<\/strong> along the coast.<\/p>\n

Except from small groups of hikers<\/strong> now and then it was wonderfully quiet
\nthere. But like on inner Iceland, tourism is increasing there too<\/strong> and like
\neverywhere in the world self-appointed nature lovers<\/strong>, once again in shape<\/strong>
\nof nature photographers<\/strong>, discover remote places first in order to get rare<\/strong>
\nshots<\/strong> of desired objects\/subjects first.<\/p>\n

Three \u2018nature photographers\u2019 invited by one of the land owners behaved
\nanything else than well. Even after some rebukes they hung around super<\/strong>
\nclose to the Arctic Fox dens<\/strong> in hope to obtain photographs of cups playing
\nor adults passing food to them.
\nAs often these guys had not the shadow of biological knowledge and obviously
\nthe fox cups survival played just a minor role<\/strong> to them. Disgusting.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PFR11403_2-11_150622_afox-fuliginosus-2-M-F-C-SOC_is_hornbjarg_REF-S.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR11403, 2-11, 150622
\nArctic Fox, male, female, calls
\nHornbjarg, Iceland, Telinga parabolic reflector<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PFR11365_1-11_150621_snowbun-insulae-1-AD-M-S_is_hornbjarg_MS.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR11365, 1-11, 150621
\nSnow Bunting, adult, male, song
\nHornbjarg, Iceland, MS-Stereo<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PFR11344_2-10_tbmurre_blkwake_nfulm_is_hornbjarg_LAV-SP.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR11344, 2-10, 150620
\nThick-billed Murre, Black-legged Kittiwake, Northern Fulmar, colony
\nHornbjarg, Iceland, DPA 4060<\/p>\n

Again I had to continue my journey and left this magical place, my mate
\nTobias and the nice people from the camp with a heavy heart.
\nEster pointed out that in case I want to make sound recordings of cetaceans<\/strong>
\ntoo, I should try to met up with a whale researcher named Marianne Rasmussen<\/strong>
\nin H\u00fasav\u00edk<\/strong>.
\nI remembered her name from a lecture by Chris Watson and kept that in my mind.<\/p>\n

\"hornbjarg_01\"<\/a>
\n\"rock-ptarmigan\"<\/a>
\nRock Ptarmigan Lagopus muta<\/em>
\n\"snow-bunting-juv\"<\/a>
\nSnow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis<\/em>, juvenile
\n\"arctic-fox_01\"<\/a>
\nArctic Fox Vulpes lagopus<\/em> approaching me<\/p>\n

But first I drove to the small Island Hr\u00edsey<\/strong>. My travel guide promised less shy
\nto tame Rock Ptarmigan Lagopus muta<\/em> and a stunning variety of meadow
\nbreeding birds due to the lack of Arctic Foxes and human hunting activities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It turned out as true but the author of the guide had not mentioned that mass<\/strong>
\n tourism had arrived here too<\/strong>. Although birds were literally everywhere and in
\nparts in astonishing big numbers, it was much too noisy to get proper sound
\nrecordings.
\nThe worst thing was a local with his tractor who drove tourist through the
\nmeadows and heaths. After a few hours I decided to leave the island and come
\nback for some days later. The best thing would be to stay on that island for a
\ncouple of days to catch a quiet hour before the ferry would bring over the tourists<\/strong>
\nfor days trips.<\/p>\n

On my way to H\u00fasav\u00edk I checked out a place a colleague recommended for
\nPink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus<\/em>. Again, there was far too much traffic<\/strong>
\n noise<\/strong>.
\nIn addition\u00a0 the geese had five or six day old chicks were super shy<\/strong>. To avoid
\nany disturbance I decided to discard this chance and went on to H\u00fasav\u00edk, the so
\ncalled \u2018Whale watching capital of Europe\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"e-golden-plover\"<\/a>
\nEuropean Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria<\/em>
\n\"red-necked-phalarope_01\"<\/a>
\nRed-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus<\/em><\/p>\n

With the first steps into one of the whale watching company ticket shops
\nI realised that Husav\u00edk<\/strong> would be another stage of my trip with more unplanned
\nthings to come.
\nWithin minutes I got in touch with Marianne Rasmussen<\/strong> and spotted a poster
\nof the upcoming \u2018Whale Congress\u2019 at H\u00fasav\u00edk\u2019s Whale Museum<\/a>. Wow!<\/p>\n

Next morning I found myself on a small sailing yacht<\/strong> ready to make sound
\nrecordings of Blue Whale Balaenoptera musculus<\/em> or one of the other species
\npresent at the moment in Sk\u00e1lfandi bay<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Beside the sheer possibility<\/strong> that I could see or even listen to one of these
\namazing creatures I was glad to accompany Marianne\u2019s trip to get an insight<\/strong>
\ninto her work<\/strong> first hand.<\/p>\n

In the evening the Whale congress took place at H\u00fasav\u00edk Whale Museum.
\nSeveral people from all over Europe<\/strong> gave insight into their recent work.
\nAs a marine observer<\/strong> it was good to have come in contact with scientists
\nat least to get a bit of an overview what the data I collect during my normal<\/strong>
\nday job could be useful for<\/strong>.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PFR11713_3-10_150629_mud-pot_fast_hverir_LAV-SP.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR11712, 3-10, 150629
\nmud pot
\nHverir, Iceland, DPA 4060<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PFR11712_3-20_150629_mud-pot_slow_is_hverir_LAV-SP.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR11713, 3-10, 150629
\nmud pot
\nHverir, Iceland, DPA 4060<\/p>\n

That evening someone mentioned artist Sonia Levy<\/a> who was working at the
\nmuseum with whale remains, illustration, video and sound. Not only that these
\nclear parallels to my late friend Ingo<\/a> have made me immediately curious.
\nIt turned out that Sonia Levy and I have mutual friends like my all time favorite
\nsound artist Yannick Dauby<\/a> and also workshop tutor Jez riley French<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Until now I\u2019m not sure if coincidences like this happen because one is at a
\nspecial place (which of course attracts other like-minded persons<\/strong> too) with
\na special dynamic<\/strong> or if my journey was quite special under this aspect.<\/p>\n

Sonia Levy and I made an appointment for the next day and she showed me
\nsome of her work for the upcoming exhibition in Hus\u00e0v\u00eck\u2019s Whale Museum.
\nI was really impressed by her ideas, her approach and the results!
\nCheck out her Iceland related works here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After just a few days filled with whale watching, conversations and making
\ncontact to local people my time ran out.<\/p>\n

\"horned-greebe\"<\/a>
\nHorned Grebe Podiceps auritus<\/em>
\n\"hverir\"<\/a>
\n\"myvatn_01\"<\/a>
\n\"white-beaked-dolphins\"<\/a>
\nWhite-beaked Dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris<\/em><\/p>\n

On my last stage I accidentally bumped into a Pink-footed Goose colony<\/strong> and
\ncould obtain a few recordings for our Birds-in-flight<\/a> website. Phew!<\/p>\n

The ferry offered a last look at the kind of tourists Iceland will attract more and
\nmore in future if the sustainable thinking Icelanders will not stop the one\u2019s who
\nsell out the island<\/strong> and turn it into a playground for dumb Europeans who seek<\/strong>
\nfor an alternative to their annual Mallorca holidays<\/strong>.
\nIn the face of some particularly nasty individuals I felt lucky that I made my trip
\nin the past.<\/p>\n

Many thanks to:<\/strong> Nicole Christ, WSRS, Jason Peters & Wildeye, Chris Watson,
\nJez riley French, Laura Endres, Inga Martel, Bethan Parkes, Robert Kellough,
\nTobias Mennle, Ester Rut Unnsteind\u00f3ttir, Marianne Rasmussen & Sonia Levy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 2016 In June 2014 I went to the annual meeting of the Wildlife Sound Recording Society at Rutland Wetland Reserve. Chris Watson the new president of the society presented sound recordings made on filming trips for Sir David Attenborough\u2019s series Frozen Planet\u2013 no need to mention how inspiring it was once again. Chris invited… Continue reading Mallorca of the north<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,20,31,45,69,78,84,13,14,61,73,74,18,49,38,8],"class_list":["post-1228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-acoustic-ecology","tag-coasts","tag-conservation","tag-expeditions","tag-friendship","tag-geese","tag-inspiration","tag-islands","tag-mammals","tag-man-made-sound","tag-nature-reserve","tag-network","tag-scandinavia","tag-summer","tag-vessels","tag-workshop","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1228"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1279,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228\/revisions\/1279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}