Wildlife in a Noisy World
Noise annoys — but it’s worse than that…
When I lived in the rainforest, the dawn chorus would start modestly with the piping of a Grey-headed Robin like a conductor tapping the stand to ready the orchestra. As the sunlight began to work its way through the canopy, other birds joined in until the forest was filled with music — the fluting of Golden Whistlers, the not at all whipcrack-like call of Eastern Whipbirds, the experimental electronica of Spotted Catbirds, and the baritones of Wompoo Fruit-doves singing wollack-a-woo and wom-poo to Brown Cuckoo-doves who asked did you walk? I sent a recording to the ABC radio program Off Track. They used it as an opening to one of their episodes.
Other recordings I made were also played on off Track over the years. But I often had to re-record them before sending, due to extraneous noise: passing cars, barking dogs, tradies’ radios, chainsaws and even, on occasions, a leaf blower.
Even though I no longer live in the rainforest, natural sounds are still a delight. As I write this, a flock of Pied Currawongs is calling…
