Avian by Mark Ferguson

Avian features sounds from a five-year recording project (2015–2020), which focused on documenting vocalisations from individual bird species throughout Northern Ireland, England and Poland.

Inspired by the work of Ludwig Koch, Arthur Allen and other wildlife sound recording pioneers, the album showcases two field techniques which have arguably formed the mainstay of ornithological sound-gathering from the early twentieth century onwards: parabolic reflector recording (where species are amplified over considerable distances using a large, parabola-shaped dish), and the placement of camouflaged microphones within known vocalising territories.

Practicing and refining these techniques required considerable patience, and led me into some interesting situations as the project unfolded. On one occasion, I scaled urban sea defences to place microphones near foraging Black-headed Gulls; on another, I spent hours standing behind a parabolic reflector on the edge of a busy mountain-bike trail, waiting for Common Ravens to take up a vocalising position in the trees above me. I hiked through moorland with a knee injury, stuck microphones onto roof tiles, fence posts and telegraph poles, and fastened portable recorders to hundreds of tree branches during my five-year search for bird sounds.

Throughout the project, I was constantly reminded of—and inspired by—the remarkable feats of endurance shown by early wildlife sound recordists, who often worked in highly challenging conditions with bulky equipment and limited means of transport. One particularly inspiring example came from Ludwig Koch, who stayed on an island in the middle of Lake Mývatn, Iceland for over forty hours with almost no provisions, waiting for an opportunity to record Long-tailed Duck. Whilst I didn't go to such extremes, I had my own endurance test in search of the Common Cuckoo, spending an entire year researching and planning my approach to the species in Dartmoor National Park before finally capturing the behavioural context and song delivery I was after (see Track 1).

Two embedded objectives during Avian's production were to document bird sounds with an absolute minimum of disturbance (an underpinning consideration with all of my work), and to present all material ‘as-recorded’, with only basic volume adjustments and removal of low frequencies during editing. I also attempted to isolate each species’ voice as much as possible from the surrounding environment, favouring areas with low levels of anthropogenic noise and increased opportunities for clean sound capture.

Whilst this highly selective approach certainly doesn't represent the sonic realities of our densely populated environment, it has helped me to appreciate the considerable effort involved in documenting audible wildlife behaviours against a backdrop of ever-increasing human activity.

With this in mind, it is my quiet hope that we are able to hear the species featured on this album for many years to come, as we continue to fundamentally transform the living world and its soundscapes.

Mark Ferguson
Bristol, April 2020

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Avian is dedicated with humility to Ludwig Koch, Arthur 'Doc' Allen, Paul Kellogg, Albert Brand, Carl Weismann, Oskar Heinroth, Tsuruhiko Kabaya, Kasuke Hoshino, and other pioneers of the wildlife sound recording craft, known and unknown.

To fully appreciate the detailed recordings on this album, high-quality headphones/loudspeakers and a quiet listening environment are recommended.

Edited, produced and mastered by Mark Ferguson.

No AI software of any kind was used in the production of Avian: all ideas, sounds, track notes, album notes and audio processes are the unique collaborative output of the featured species and the recordist.

Album artwork by David-Lee Badger.

Mark Ferguson is an award-winning wildlife sound recordist. His work draws attention to the sonic nuances of animal behaviour and the fascinating audible relationships between humans, wild species and their shared environments. He is currently based in Northern Ireland, where he spends most of his time documenting the habitats and hidden stories of his native Ulster countryside.

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