The Sound Approach

Brownsea Island – The Jewel in Pearl Harbour’s Crown

comatoseman — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:37:48 +0000

Why visit Brownsea Island? Well it’s a National Trust Island in the centre of one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in South England. That’s just for starters, it’s one of the last refuges of the once endemic Red Squirrel, it is now just found in a handful of places. It is an excellent birdwatching spot, the hides are top notch and the views are spectacular. Not convinced? Read on!

The island has a long history, its worth picking up a copy of Catching the Bug a s the history of the harbour is gone into is some more detail. Currently the National Trust lease a massive portion of the island to the Dorset Wildlife Trust for them to use, the chunk they lease is perhaps the best part for birdwatchers for one big reason, the Lagoon. The Lagoon is walled in and allows many migrant birds to stop off and rest, some use the islands in the shallow water to nest.

In the winter months it is a massive attraction for the Harbour and has brought thousands every year flocking (pun intended) to see the amazing birds. One of my favourites, the Avocet, is found in huge numbers here and I just can’t wait to see them properly later this year.

I decided to visit Brownsea island in the hope of getting some of our books out there in time for our new release, Catching the Bug. I thought it would be best not to have to worry about securing relationships with booksellers at the same time as promoting the book.

Once I had dropped off the books for the DWT I realised I had a bit of spare time until the next ferry back to the Poole Quay, I decided to spend some time in the MacDonald hide and watch the nesting terns and gulls (pictured above). They were very interesting to watch, they often squabbled for space and would call loudly to partners when they saw them returning with nesting material.

In the distance I could glimpse a majestic Spoonbill foraging in the shallow water of the Lagoon, because of it’s long legs the Spoonbill could forage where few others could go. In the shallower water a Little Egret was foraging too, I was lucky enough to photograph it in flight!

I caught the ferry back and had a good tour of the Harbour on the ferry, I saw the recently burnt down house of a rich billionaire, I felt a bit bad for him but I think he probably has a few other houses so I didn’t feel too bad for him.

I’d to end with a short endorsement, for anyone thinking of visiting Poole Harbour I heartily suggest getting on one of the yellow ferries and going over to Brownsea. The wildlife is stunning and its totally worth it.

London Wild Bird Watch 2012

comatoseman — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:13:59 +0000

We set off from Poole with high hopes; the weather was good (well, it wasn’t raining) and the roads were clear. We’d loaded up our van with stock and promotional material and made good time to London but, unfortunately, arrived to thunderstorms and rain, which would frustrate visitors and exhibitors alike all weekend.

Once our stand had been setup we made our way our to our B&B and spent the night exploring the bars and pubs of Putney.

Come opening time Friday morning there was a good influx of people, we set about talking to our prospective customers who turned out to probably be the most die-hard bunch of the weekend, with some of them returning later with high end Canon lenses and camera body’s.

We soon met the other exhibitors. We were directly across from Kenny and John of Wild Caledonia, next door to the Omani tourism board and Birdmike, diagonal to Ecotours and Incognito Anti-Mosquito. The stalls were so varied we were expecting a great deal of interest with something for everyone.

The grand attraction for the weekend was, of course, Kate Humble. Some people managed to see Simon King but we only ever saw him carrying boxes and slightly grimacing… he may have a bad back. Kate was lovely, she didn’t want a kiss but I could tell she just didn’t want to make all the bird geeks jealous. Until next time Kate!

Little did we know that the visitor numbers on Friday would be pretty much the same as those of Saturday and Sunday, we all had hopes that the weather would change and yes, they did improve over the weekend but the number of actual birding enthusiasts turning up did not. Several times we spoke to visitors who had no idea that the event was on and had just stumbled across it during a day trip out!

One strange addition to our Marquee was an indoor garden which received a grand total of 0 visitors despite taking up a great deal of space, the tables and chairs nearby for visitors were actually used mainly by exhibitors for lunching.

In lieu of customers we started chatting to our fellow exhibitors, especially Wild Caledonia who were opposite us. We were really shocked, we expected to have our stock stolen and our van’s tires slashed but we were pleasantly surprised. (Not really, they took the whole lot, stole our van and then attempted to storm the Houses of Parliament using our books as improvised weapons.)

Overall it was a good weekend, I would of liked to have sold more but considering the attendance numbers we did very well. The location was amazing, I would absolutely visit the WWT in Barnes again if I had the chance. If we decide to go back we’d expect high visitor numbers and slightly more focus on birdwatching rather than celebs, even if they are beautiful (I’m talking about Humble, not King).

New Sound Approach Title Coming Summer 2012

comatoseman — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:11:37 +0000

This summer will see the release of the latest Sound Approach title, Catching The Bug by Mark Constantine, Nick Hopper and The Sound Approach. This guide will demonstrate how to maximise the enjoyment of your local birdwatching patch using ours, Poole Harbour, as an example. Featuring topical issues, up to date taxonomy, anecdotal stories, fantastic illustrations from Killian Mullarney and amazing photography; there is something for everyone. As usual, the book will come with two free audio CDs packed with great sounds and even a bonus chapter on how to identify those hard to do visible migration calls.

Mark and Magnus on BCC Radio 3, Saturday 25th February

comatoseman — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:43:40 +0000

This Saturday at 12.15 pm on BBC Radio 3, Sound Approach authors Mark Constantine and Magnus Robb appear on Tom McKinney’s Inspired By Birds. The show will take a look at the influence bird song has had on composers and music, so tune in!

James de Winter’s talk at this year’s ASE Annual Conference in Liverpool January 6th

Ben — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:59:29 +0000

Cambridge lecturer James de Winter is giving a talk on Birdsong, Sonograms and Teaching Sound at this years’s Association for Science Education’s Annual Conference in Liverpool on January 6th. He’ll be using our work as a reference point, so if you’re about, drop in!

James is a professor at Cambridge University, and we’ve been working with him for over a year, providing material for his classes in which he teaches his students all about sound, particularly on how to draw sonograms of the sounds they hear

Click here for more information on his lecture.

Magnus Robb recreates the sounds of Lava and Hole’s Shearwaters

Ben — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 10:02:02 +0000

Ghosts of Gone Birds – Magnus Robb recreates the sounds of Lava and Hole’s Shearwaters for Ceri Levy fantastic exhibition at Rochelle School in Shoreditch:

http://soundcloud.com/the-sound-approach-uk/recreation-of-lava-and-holes

THE RE-DISCOVERY OF THE BROWN FISH OWL IN THE WESTERN PALEARCTIC

Ben — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:19:20 +0000

The Brown Fish Owl is one of the rarest birds in the Western Palearctic, with very little previously known about this elusive bird. Until Now.

Arnoud van den Berg of The Sound Approach, with help from fellow birders Soner Bekir, Murat Çuhadaroglu, and Emin Yogurtcuoglu, has been traveling across Turkey in search of the Brown Fish Owl in an attempt to record and learn more about this incredible species.

The Brown Fish Owl was thought extinct in the Western Palearctic with sightings becoming scarce and virtually non-existent this century.

Arnoud has published his findings in a paper for the Dutch Birding Association where you can read all about this bird’s nocturnal activities the behaviour of its juveniles.

Stop Seabirds from eating plastic!

Ben — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:48:14 +0000

You wouldn’t believe how much plastic refuse a seabird can fit into its stomach, so we support this Lush Cosmetics campaign to stop it. By taking plastic litter out of the seas and re-using it in their black pots, Lush are hoping to ensure that seabirds eat what is right for them, not bottle caps that take 450 years to break down.

When Mark Constantine saw the above photo, he resolved to do something about it. Kate from Lush Cosmetics will be joining us on our stand (Marquee 1) at this year’s British Bird Fair. Please come along and find out more about her campaign to protect seabirds from ingesting plastic refuse!

Head over to Lush to find out more.

The Sound Approach

Sound Approach were at the Bird Fair!

Ben — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:47:48 +0000

Thanks to all who dropped by, said hi, bought a book or CD or chatted to Kate about her Seabirds Campaign.

See you next year!

New Sound Approach recordings on iTunes, May 29th 2011

Ben — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:48:44 +0000

For the first time, a selection of recordings made by the Sound Approach are available on itunes UK and Amazon UK for download. We’ve been busy working with Lush Cosmetics, providing them with a range of sounds for the music they have accompanying their various spa treatments. Lush have decided to release all the music, original compositions by Simon Emmerson of The Imagined Village and Afro Celts fame, from their spas across four albums, with Sound Approach recordings cropping up on all four. For more information, check out Lush’s website where you can also buy physical copies of the albums, or find them on Amazon UK.

For a chance to win a set of all four Lush Spa albums, tell us which Sound Approach book did Simon Emmerson also provide the music for? Email your answers to info@soundapproach.co.uk – the first five correct answers will win a set of CDs.

Good Luck!