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

Inspired by the work of Ludwig Koch, Arthur Allen and other twentieth-century wildlife sound recording pioneers, the album showcases two techniques underpinning the world’s earliest ornithological sound collections: parabolic reflector recording (which allows species to be amplified over considerable distances using a special, parabola-shaped dish), and the placement of well-camouflaged microphones within known vocalising territories.

Adhering to these two techniques over several years required considerable patience, and led me into some interesting situations as the project unfolded. On one occasion (and in full public view), I scaled urban sea defences to place a couple of microphones near foraging black-headed gulls; on another, I held a parabolic reflector for several hours next to a busy mountain bike trail, waiting for 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 miniature 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, unreliable equipment and limited means of transport. One particularly inspiring example in this regard came from Ludwig Koch, who (with no provisions) stayed on an island in the middle of Lake Mývatn, Iceland for over forty hours, 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 realisation were to record bird sounds with an absolute minimum of disturbance, and to present all sounds as recorded, with only basic volume adjustments and removal of low frequencies during editing. In line with twentieth-century tastes, I also attempted to isolate each species’ voice as best as possible from the surrounding environment, favouring areas with low levels of background noise and potential for 'clean' sound capture.

Whilst this highly selective approach certainly doesn't represent the realities of our densely populated, predominantly anthropogenic sonic environment, it has helped me to appreciate the substantial effort now involved in successfully isolating bird 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 years to come, as we continue to fundamentally transform the natural 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 wildlife sound recordings featured on this album, high-quality headphones/loudspeakers and a quiet listening environment are recommended.

Edited, produced and mastered by Mark Ferguson.

Original album artwork by Deadbeat Creative Company.