Our Story

Mark Constantine

Mark Constantine has been a keen birder since the 1970s. During holidays to Mallorca in the 1980s he became friends with the late Peter Grant, the best teacher a birder could have asked for. It was about this time he began to develop a passionate interest in bird sounds. In 2000, this led him to invite Arnoud van den Berg and Magnus Robb to join him in forming The Sound Approach. Mark is the managing director of cosmetics retailer Lush.

Arnoud van den Berg

Although he may be better known for his bird photography, Arnoud van den Berg has been recording bird sounds together with Cecilia Bosman (see picture) since the 1980s when this involved lugging a recorder the size of a desktop computer around the world with them. Arnoud is one of the founders of the Dutch Birding Association and is chief editor of its bimonthly journal, Dutch Birding. Taxonomy is one of his interests, and he is a member of the influential dutch committee for avian systematic (CSNA). In addition, Arnoud is a long-time Limosa Holidays tour leader and member of the Moroccan rarities committee.

Magnus Robb

Magnus Robb trained as a musician, and his compositions have included ones for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Scotland. During the mid-1990s, he started recording bird song. Initially it was to provide material for compositions, but bird song soon became his main preoccupation. His paper revealing new crossbill diversity through sounds, published in Dutch Birding in 2000, led to an invitation to join The Sound Approach.

Killian Mullarney

Over the past 30 years, Killian Mullarney has dedicated his life to bird identification. Whether it’s illustrating Europe’s premier field guide, ‘the Collins’, finding some of Ireland’s rarest and most exciting birds, sound recording some of the rarest waders in Europe or his balanced contribution to the Sound Approach, his careful field sketches and quality sound recording are legendary and can be found littered through all the sound Approach books. He is the artist responsible for all our front covers and groundbreaking plates.

Dick Forsman

Dick is one of the world’s leading authorities in field identification of birds of prey and was the first person to introduce Bird Sound of the Day to Finnish radio. He is an accomplished sound recorder and broadcaster and has produced many nature programs for radio. Dick is well known for his ground breaking book ‘The Raptors of Europe and the Middle East: A Handbook of Field Identification’, but is also known for losing his car during a bet with Mark Constantine.

René Pop

Rene founded the Dutch Birding Association with Arnoud back in 1979, and is still involved in producing the highly commended Dutch Birding journal each month. Rene has also been a constant companion and photographer on more than 15 Sound Approach field trips. Living on Texel, Holland’s rarity capital, Rene’s life is the envy of many Dutch Birders. Specialising in the reproduction of bird photographs to the highest standard, his work shines through all the Sound Approach books.

Lush

Towards the end of 2010, we were invited to participate in an unusual collaboration encompassing cosmetics, folk music and bird song. Simon Emmerson, who provided the soundtrack to Birding From The Hip, had been asked by Lush Cosmetics to compose new music for a set of CDs that draw deeply on both a love of folk music and bird song. The result is an innovative project, put together partly to act as a sound accompaniment to Lush’s various spa treatments and massages, yet also a stand-alone musical pleasure.

Recordings of petrels, yellowhammers, ravens, and corn buntings, amongst others, sit comfortably alongside sea shanties, Egyptian reggae, and traditional folk, and we are honoured to hear our sounds in this new environment.