Merry Christmas from the Sound Approach Team. We hope everyone’s managed to make the most of the festive season and are planning (when and where possible) a bird filled and sound rich 2021. To end the year and to cap off our 365 days of bird sounds we’d like to set you a Sound Approach 12 days of Christmas challenge. Over the 12 days of Christmas we’ll be posting a new mystery sound on on this webpage and our social media channels and will reveal the answers at the end of the day on the 12th day. Good luck!
So, to kick things off…….
Song of a Rock Partridge Alectoris graeca (with Common Whitethroat, Common Linnet and Cirl Bunting in the background) recorded by Magnus Robb on Psili Korifi, Western Sterea Hellas, Greece, 10 May 2002.
2. On the second day of Christmas, the Sound Approach played to me…another easy one for the second day of Christmas just to get you warmed up.
Songs of two European Turtle Doves Streptopelia turtur (with a Spanish Sparrow) recorded by Magnus Robb on Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain, 15 April 2001.
3. On the third day of Christmas the sound Approach played to me….. OK, they’re not French, and how many other species can you identify in the recording?
Clucking of Domestic fowl Gallus gallus (with Eurasian Blackcap, Tree Sparrow and European Serin), recorded by Mark Constantine at Rust, Burgenland, Austria (sorry not French!), 10 May 2009.
4. On the fourth day of Christmas the sound Approach played to me….. Four calling birds, But can you name them?
Hooting of four Eurasian Scops Owls Otus scops, recorded by Magnus Robb at São Bras de Alportel, Faro, Portugal, 19 March 2009.
5. On the fifth day of Christmas the sound Approach played to me…Five gold rings… We had to think hard about this one. Have you guessed it?
Calls of a small flock of Little Ringed Plovers Charadrius dubius (with Zitting Cisticola), recorded by Magnus Robb at S’Albufera, Mallorca, Spain, 1 April 2003.
6. On the sixth day of Christmas the sound Approach played to me…Six geese a-laying. This one’s very hard indeed, but if you can identify the two exciting gull species in the background you might just get it
An altercation between several nesting Black Brant Branta nigricans (with Sabine’s Gull and Ross’s Gull in the background), recorded by Magnus Robb in the Lena Delta, Yakutia, Russia, 26 June 2004.
7. On the seventh day of Christmas The Sound Approach played to me….
Calls of a resting flock of Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus (with Mute Swan, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Curlew, Dunlin and Hooded Crow), recorded by Killian Mullarney at Tacumshin, Wexford, Ireland, 21 October 2000.
8. On the eighth day of Christmas The Sound Approach played to me….Eight maids a-milking. Very tricky! Some lateral thinking and knowledge of less-frequently used names required here.
Songs of many Nubian Nightjars Caprimulgus nubicus (aka goat-suckers!), with Plain Nightjar, Black-winged Stilt and Arabian Eagle-Owl too, recorded by Jem Babbington in Jazan Wadi Dam, Jazan, Saudi Arabia, 6 July 2019.
9. On the 9th day of Christmas The Sound Approach played to me….Nine ladies dancing – OK, they are flying not dancing on this occasion, but definitely ladies.
Calls of adult and juvenile Demoiselle Cranes Grus virgo, recorded by Magnus Robb in Khichan, Rajasthan, India, 21 January 2002.
10. On the tenth day of Christmas The Sound Approach played to me….a familiar species from a not-so-familiar angle.
Wing-flapping, feather-ruffling and leaping of lekking Ruff Calidris pugnax (and Temminck’s Stint) recorded at extremely close range by Magnus Robb in the Lena Delta, Yakutia, Russia, 25 June 2004.
11. On the eleventh day of Christmas The Sound Approach played to me…Eleven(ish) pipers piping…..but which pipers?
Calls of a flock of Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleuca (with distant Greater Flamingo and Common Ringed Plover) setting out on migration and recorded by Magnus Robb in Leziria Grande, Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal, 21 September 2020.
12. On the twelfth day of Christmas the Sound Approach played to me…..Twelve drummers drumming – definitely *not* woodpeckers.
Drumming of many Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago (with Great Snipe, Jack Snipe, Northern Lapwing and Moor Frog), recorded by Mark Constantine in Biebrza marshes, Podaskie, Poland, 20 April 2003.