Running Time:

70 min

Release Date:

December 2017

Recording Location:

Near Jenolan, Blue Mountains National Park, NSW

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In the Refuge of a Fern Gully

Birdsong filters through tall eucalypts in Australia's eastern highlands.

It is a sunny morning, the day after unsettled weather, and a strong breeze is still moving through trees up on surrounding ridges. But down in the shelter of a narrow gully, among tree ferns and dense shrubs, birds find refuge from the elements. Here, even though there is no running water, the ground is moist and plant growth is dense.

The birdsong heard is typical of these upland forests. Golden whistlers, fantails, yellow-faced honeyeaters and grey shrike-thrushes call from the forest midstory. Meanwhile smaller birds flit among low shrubs; scrub-wrens, spinebills, fairy-wrens and thornbills. From not far off, a superb lyrebird is heard giving a variety of mechanical and sonorous vocalisations.

This is a single continuous recording, with an interesting diversity of birdsong and just a little of that ridgetop breeze to give a sense of the landscape.

Andrew comments:

"On the morning I made this recording, the wind was shoving the treetops around noisily. It wasn't a gale, as it had been on previous days, but it remained a decent strong wind. It subdued and obscured any birdsong, and I was feeling that the conditions were still too distracting for an interesting recording.

"Walking around a corner on the track however, I found myself in a small creekline, where the contours of the surrounding ridges gave shelter from the wind. Large tree ferns grew overhead, adding to the seclusion, and here the birds had congregated to enjoy the sunshine and still air.

"After setting up the microphones, I stood quietly in a patch of sunlight between the tree ferns, and enjoyed the place myself."

 

Audio sample of this album

1.

In the Refuge of a Fern Gully

70.11

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Mp3:

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