menu
WITH SEÀN RONAYNE
My favourite bird is Common Whitethroat. We go way back. But in recent years, I’ve discovered that this bird has a real story to tell those who are willing to listen. This species is a wonderful mimic, and because ‘our’ whitethroats (those from the UK and Ireland) winter south of the Sahara, typically in Senegal, they bring back sounds from those far-flung tropical places. If you have the time and know-how to pick apart the song of a freshly arrived whitethroat in spring, it will tell you all about its life. It’ll tell you where it’s been, who it’s encountered, and more. Each bird has a unique story to tell, based on who it’s mimicking, what route it took, and what habitats it spent time in. I listen to these birds in windy Ireland, and tell me about exotic encounters with Iberian and Senagalese birds they’ve met in their lives - like stamps on a passport. To me, this bird is a symbol of our interconnectedness as people. What we do here in Ireland has implications across the globe. If only we came and went as peacefully as the whitethroat.
Shifting baseline syndrome is a big player in wildlife decline throughout the world. Of course capitalism, greed, an inexplicable desire for constant expansion and growth, and a lack of understanding that the earth’s resources are finite, are the biggest players, but out lack of connection with the natural world probably comes as a result of those other nasty traits, we as a species, have developed. If you are born into a world where the sky is purple and there are no birds, then this would be your baseline. This would be normal to you. Kids today would think we are crazy if we told them out car windows would be covered in insects after a drive through rural lanes when we were young. A clean window after such a drive is normal to them. Their baseline has shifted. I want my work to act as a metaphorical system restore point. I want to capture our current baseline so it can’t be forgotten. And in the event that things do worsen, our kids and grandkids will hear first hand what has been lost. And then they can fight to bring it back, and go a step further. Unfortunately I did capture the sound of Ireland’s last pair of Ring Ouzel - a species which was once present in 28 out of 32 Irish counties. Now it’s time to say goodbye to this iconic mountain songster, and this saddens me inexplicably. But I have captured its voice, and I want these recordings to stand as a symbol for the current human-driven extinction crisis we now face. I want to show people the beauty we are trashing. I want them to be sad, I want them to be mournful, and I want them to stand up and say that they’ve had enough. Most people are good, loving, and want to do the right thing in the world. And I strongly believe if we touch enough of those hearts, we can change the world for the better. But we need to act RIGHT NOW. Things are getting worse, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We just need people to know the situation, and to start making noise. The right kind of noise.
I love all birds. They are all family to me. They’re all characters which have raised me and have been there for me through thick and thin. Even on my literal deathbed at the age of 18, being pummelled by meningitis and septicaemia, birds pulled me through. I was rushed into hospital after a long night of battling, with multiple organ failure, and death knocking hard on the door. At the time I was rather obsessed with going to see wind-blown rarities. That time a gull-billed tern, typically seen much further south than Ireland, had turned up close to home. I was rather irked that meningitis got in my way of going to see that bird. My family were all called into the hospital to say goodbye to me. A social worker prepared them outside. My heart stopped, and I was luckily brought back. When I came to, I looked at the nurse and asked her if she’d take me to see the gull-billed tern. She assumed I was delirious, but I don’t think I was! All sounds that are lost are an absolute tragedy? What will they be replaced with? Groaning, diesel-burning engines? Airplanes? No thanks. We all need to stand up and say no. There are so many of us. Yes, we would all need to change our ways, and in a drastic manner. But wouldn’t it be worth it? We need to start thinking more, we need to start collaborating more. No one person has the solution, but there are many experts out there that do. And together, I am sure we can still secure a nature-filled future on this planet. Less cars, and more public transport are a no-brainer. Carbon emissions would be reduced, anthropogenic noise would be reduced, and bird song would increase. Just this week the WWF announced that the world has lost 73% of its monitored wildlife since 1970. And with that the world’s natural chorus has become simpler and quieter. How much more silent will we allow it to become?
I have come across many surprising sounds - I have been recording non-stop with multiple units on the go all over Ireland for over four years now. The one that jumps out is an interesting tale. I walk my dog in a local wood every day, to exercise him and to clear my head. He always trots ahead of me on a well-worn track. One evening we both stopped after hearing a large-sounding dog barking ahead. I knelt down next to Toby to put his lead on, and the barking sounded again, only this time it was coming from the top of a great big oak that towered over our heads. We both looked up in confusion, only to be met with a Jay, a member of the crow family, looking back down at us. The Jay was mimicking a barking dog, probably to scare Toby off. It was the breeding season, and dogs and foxes could pose a threat to young birds. Surprising situations like this have arisen many times during my escapades, and it only shows that we are really only scratching the surface with what we know and understand of the natural world. It’s gorgeous, and can provide us with inexplicable beauty and awe. We need to respect and protect it!
This is something which is hard to experience in life, because our memories of these things are short-lived. This is why it’s important to me to sound record the natural world - so I can capture sonic snapshots. This brings us back to shifting baseline syndrome. We need to make these system restore points so that future generations can be shocked and angered into fighting for a nature-filled world, assuming that their sonic snapshots will sound even further lacking/silent. Things can only keep declining to a point. Eventually, we as a species will slip away too., as 73% nears 100%. We need to understand that we cannot keep taking, taking, taking. We need to respect our planet and know that we cannot keep ‘growing’. We need to slow down and we need to give back. Bernie Krause’s warning of great silence is real. We are living it. But we need everyone to know this. We need people to stand up to the root of this ever-growing silence - capitalistic greed, and an increasing disconnection from nature.
Rewild your minds and speak up for nature. Tell everyone you know that the world as we know it is in grave danger. But also update your knowledge - get to know your local plants, birds, and insects. You’ll find inexplicable beauty right at your feet. You’ll fall in love, and you’ll want to pass on this love to others. Spend as much time in nature as you can each and every living moment. Gather people together and share experiences and ideas. Write to your politicians to tell them you want a healthy prosperous nature-filled world. Join, and support conservation bodies who do gargantuan hands-on work. Open up your minds, and listen to people, even those who you may think are on the wrong side. We need to get through this together, and we need to do it now.
I am not sure this will even be possible. I hope not. Bird song is so complex, and varies incredibly even from individual to individual. I really love the process of exploring bird song and deciphering what I can, with my eyes and ears. I learn so much this way, and I really feel like I’m connecting with nature. It calms me to no end and it fills my head with wonder and questions. The process is everything. So many stories jump out. I know I’ll never decipher it all. And who knows, maybe half of what I decipher is wrong!
My favourite bird is Common Whitethroat. We go way back. But in recent years, I’ve discovered that this bird has a real story to tell those who are willing to listen. This species is a wonderful mimic, and because ‘our’ whitethroats (those from the UK and Ireland) winter south of the Sahara, typically in Senegal, they bring back sounds from those far-flung tropical places. If you have the time and know-how to pick apart the song of a freshly arrived whitethroat in spring, it will tell you all about its life. It’ll tell you where it’s been, who it’s encountered, and more. Each bird has a unique story to tell, based on who it’s mimicking, what route it took, and what habitats it spent time in. I listen to these birds in windy Ireland, and tell me about exotic encounters with Iberian and Senagalese birds they’ve met in their lives - like stamps on a passport. To me, this bird is a symbol of our interconnectedness as people. What we do here in Ireland has implications across the globe. If only we came and went as peacefully as the whitethroat.
Shifting baseline syndrome is a big player in wildlife decline throughout the world. Of course capitalism, greed, an inexplicable desire for constant expansion and growth, and a lack of understanding that the earth’s resources are finite, are the biggest players, but out lack of connection with the natural world probably comes as a result of those other nasty traits, we as a species, have developed. If you are born into a world where the sky is purple and there are no birds, then this would be your baseline. This would be normal to you. Kids today would think we are crazy if we told them out car windows would be covered in insects after a drive through rural lanes when we were young. A clean window after such a drive is normal to them. Their baseline has shifted. I want my work to act as a metaphorical system restore point. I want to capture our current baseline so it can’t be forgotten. And in the event that things do worsen, our kids and grandkids will hear first hand what has been lost. And then they can fight to bring it back, and go a step further. Unfortunately I did capture the sound of Ireland’s last pair of Ring Ouzel - a species which was once present in 28 out of 32 Irish counties. Now it’s time to say goodbye to this iconic mountain songster, and this saddens me inexplicably. But I have captured its voice, and I want these recordings to stand as a symbol for the current human-driven extinction crisis we now face. I want to show people the beauty we are trashing. I want them to be sad, I want them to be mournful, and I want them to stand up and say that they’ve had enough. Most people are good, loving, and want to do the right thing in the world. And I strongly believe if we touch enough of those hearts, we can change the world for the better. But we need to act RIGHT NOW. Things are getting worse, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We just need people to know the situation, and to start making noise. The right kind of noise.
I love all birds. They are all family to me. They’re all characters which have raised me and have been there for me through thick and thin. Even on my literal deathbed at the age of 18, being pummelled by meningitis and septicaemia, birds pulled me through. I was rushed into hospital after a long night of battling, with multiple organ failure, and death knocking hard on the door. At the time I was rather obsessed with going to see wind-blown rarities. That time a gull-billed tern, typically seen much further south than Ireland, had turned up close to home. I was rather irked that meningitis got in my way of going to see that bird. My family were all called into the hospital to say goodbye to me. A social worker prepared them outside. My heart stopped, and I was luckily brought back. When I came to, I looked at the nurse and asked her if she’d take me to see the gull-billed tern. She assumed I was delirious, but I don’t think I was! All sounds that are lost are an absolute tragedy? What will they be replaced with? Groaning, diesel-burning engines? Airplanes? No thanks. We all need to stand up and say no. There are so many of us. Yes, we would all need to change our ways, and in a drastic manner. But wouldn’t it be worth it? We need to start thinking more, we need to start collaborating more. No one person has the solution, but there are many experts out there that do. And together, I am sure we can still secure a nature-filled future on this planet. Less cars, and more public transport are a no-brainer. Carbon emissions would be reduced, anthropogenic noise would be reduced, and bird song would increase. Just this week the WWF announced that the world has lost 73% of its monitored wildlife since 1970. And with that the world’s natural chorus has become simpler and quieter. How much more silent will we allow it to become?
I have come across many surprising sounds - I have been recording non-stop with multiple units on the go all over Ireland for over four years now. The one that jumps out is an interesting tale. I walk my dog in a local wood every day, to exercise him and to clear my head. He always trots ahead of me on a well-worn track. One evening we both stopped after hearing a large-sounding dog barking ahead. I knelt down next to Toby to put his lead on, and the barking sounded again, only this time it was coming from the top of a great big oak that towered over our heads. We both looked up in confusion, only to be met with a Jay, a member of the crow family, looking back down at us. The Jay was mimicking a barking dog, probably to scare Toby off. It was the breeding season, and dogs and foxes could pose a threat to young birds. Surprising situations like this have arisen many times during my escapades, and it only shows that we are really only scratching the surface with what we know and understand of the natural world. It’s gorgeous, and can provide us with inexplicable beauty and awe. We need to respect and protect it!
This is something which is hard to experience in life, because our memories of these things are short-lived. This is why it’s important to me to sound record the natural world - so I can capture sonic snapshots. This brings us back to shifting baseline syndrome. We need to make these system restore points so that future generations can be shocked and angered into fighting for a nature-filled world, assuming that their sonic snapshots will sound even further lacking/silent. Things can only keep declining to a point. Eventually, we as a species will slip away too., as 73% nears 100%. We need to understand that we cannot keep taking, taking, taking. We need to respect our planet and know that we cannot keep ‘growing’. We need to slow down and we need to give back. Bernie Krause’s warning of great silence is real. We are living it. But we need everyone to know this. We need people to stand up to the root of this ever-growing silence - capitalistic greed, and an increasing disconnection from nature.
Rewild your minds and speak up for nature. Tell everyone you know that the world as we know it is in grave danger. But also update your knowledge - get to know your local plants, birds, and insects. You’ll find inexplicable beauty right at your feet. You’ll fall in love, and you’ll want to pass on this love to others. Spend as much time in nature as you can each and every living moment. Gather people together and share experiences and ideas. Write to your politicians to tell them you want a healthy prosperous nature-filled world. Join, and support conservation bodies who do gargantuan hands-on work. Open up your minds, and listen to people, even those who you may think are on the wrong side. We need to get through this together, and we need to do it now.
I am not sure this will even be possible. I hope not. Bird song is so complex, and varies incredibly even from individual to individual. I really love the process of exploring bird song and deciphering what I can, with my eyes and ears. I learn so much this way, and I really feel like I’m connecting with nature. It calms me to no end and it fills my head with wonder and questions. The process is everything. So many stories jump out. I know I’ll never decipher it all. And who knows, maybe half of what I decipher is wrong!
Ornithologist Seán Ronayne from Cobh, Co. Cork is on a mission to record the sound of every bird species in Ireland – that’s nearly 200 birds. Often joined by his partner Alba, he travels to some of the country’s most beautiful and remote locations to capture its most elusive species and soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland free from road noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a solitary nest in the Donegal uplands. Along the way we get to know Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound has proven both a struggle and a strength. At once inspiring and cautionary, Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
BIRDSONG is a 52-minute documentary film directed by Kathleen Harris and produced by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O’Sullivan for True Films.
Seán's book, NATURE BOY, is out now.
WITH SEÀN RONAYNE
My favourite bird is Common Whitethroat. We go way back. But in recent years, I’ve discovered that this bird has a real story to tell those who are willing to listen. This species is a wonderful mimic, and because ‘our’ whitethroats (those from the UK and Ireland) winter south of the Sahara, typically in Senegal, they bring back sounds from those far-flung tropical places. If you have the time and know-how to pick apart the song of a freshly arrived whitethroat in spring, it will tell you all about its life. It’ll tell you where it’s been, who it’s encountered, and more. Each bird has a unique story to tell, based on who it’s mimicking, what route it took, and what habitats it spent time in. I listen to these birds in windy Ireland, and tell me about exotic encounters with Iberian and Senagalese birds they’ve met in their lives - like stamps on a passport. To me, this bird is a symbol of our interconnectedness as people. What we do here in Ireland has implications across the globe. If only we came and went as peacefully as the whitethroat.
Shifting baseline syndrome is a big player in wildlife decline throughout the world. Of course capitalism, greed, an inexplicable desire for constant expansion and growth, and a lack of understanding that the earth’s resources are finite, are the biggest players, but out lack of connection with the natural world probably comes as a result of those other nasty traits, we as a species, have developed. If you are born into a world where the sky is purple and there are no birds, then this would be your baseline. This would be normal to you. Kids today would think we are crazy if we told them out car windows would be covered in insects after a drive through rural lanes when we were young. A clean window after such a drive is normal to them. Their baseline has shifted. I want my work to act as a metaphorical system restore point. I want to capture our current baseline so it can’t be forgotten. And in the event that things do worsen, our kids and grandkids will hear first hand what has been lost. And then they can fight to bring it back, and go a step further. Unfortunately I did capture the sound of Ireland’s last pair of Ring Ouzel - a species which was once present in 28 out of 32 Irish counties. Now it’s time to say goodbye to this iconic mountain songster, and this saddens me inexplicably. But I have captured its voice, and I want these recordings to stand as a symbol for the current human-driven extinction crisis we now face. I want to show people the beauty we are trashing. I want them to be sad, I want them to be mournful, and I want them to stand up and say that they’ve had enough. Most people are good, loving, and want to do the right thing in the world. And I strongly believe if we touch enough of those hearts, we can change the world for the better. But we need to act RIGHT NOW. Things are getting worse, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We just need people to know the situation, and to start making noise. The right kind of noise.
I love all birds. They are all family to me. They’re all characters which have raised me and have been there for me through thick and thin. Even on my literal deathbed at the age of 18, being pummelled by meningitis and septicaemia, birds pulled me through. I was rushed into hospital after a long night of battling, with multiple organ failure, and death knocking hard on the door. At the time I was rather obsessed with going to see wind-blown rarities. That time a gull-billed tern, typically seen much further south than Ireland, had turned up close to home. I was rather irked that meningitis got in my way of going to see that bird. My family were all called into the hospital to say goodbye to me. A social worker prepared them outside. My heart stopped, and I was luckily brought back. When I came to, I looked at the nurse and asked her if she’d take me to see the gull-billed tern. She assumed I was delirious, but I don’t think I was! All sounds that are lost are an absolute tragedy? What will they be replaced with? Groaning, diesel-burning engines? Airplanes? No thanks. We all need to stand up and say no. There are so many of us. Yes, we would all need to change our ways, and in a drastic manner. But wouldn’t it be worth it? We need to start thinking more, we need to start collaborating more. No one person has the solution, but there are many experts out there that do. And together, I am sure we can still secure a nature-filled future on this planet. Less cars, and more public transport are a no-brainer. Carbon emissions would be reduced, anthropogenic noise would be reduced, and bird song would increase. Just this week the WWF announced that the world has lost 73% of its monitored wildlife since 1970. And with that the world’s natural chorus has become simpler and quieter. How much more silent will we allow it to become?
I have come across many surprising sounds - I have been recording non-stop with multiple units on the go all over Ireland for over four years now. The one that jumps out is an interesting tale. I walk my dog in a local wood every day, to exercise him and to clear my head. He always trots ahead of me on a well-worn track. One evening we both stopped after hearing a large-sounding dog barking ahead. I knelt down next to Toby to put his lead on, and the barking sounded again, only this time it was coming from the top of a great big oak that towered over our heads. We both looked up in confusion, only to be met with a Jay, a member of the crow family, looking back down at us. The Jay was mimicking a barking dog, probably to scare Toby off. It was the breeding season, and dogs and foxes could pose a threat to young birds. Surprising situations like this have arisen many times during my escapades, and it only shows that we are really only scratching the surface with what we know and understand of the natural world. It’s gorgeous, and can provide us with inexplicable beauty and awe. We need to respect and protect it!
This is something which is hard to experience in life, because our memories of these things are short-lived. This is why it’s important to me to sound record the natural world - so I can capture sonic snapshots. This brings us back to shifting baseline syndrome. We need to make these system restore points so that future generations can be shocked and angered into fighting for a nature-filled world, assuming that their sonic snapshots will sound even further lacking/silent. Things can only keep declining to a point. Eventually, we as a species will slip away too., as 73% nears 100%. We need to understand that we cannot keep taking, taking, taking. We need to respect our planet and know that we cannot keep ‘growing’. We need to slow down and we need to give back. Bernie Krause’s warning of great silence is real. We are living it. But we need everyone to know this. We need people to stand up to the root of this ever-growing silence - capitalistic greed, and an increasing disconnection from nature.
Rewild your minds and speak up for nature. Tell everyone you know that the world as we know it is in grave danger. But also update your knowledge - get to know your local plants, birds, and insects. You’ll find inexplicable beauty right at your feet. You’ll fall in love, and you’ll want to pass on this love to others. Spend as much time in nature as you can each and every living moment. Gather people together and share experiences and ideas. Write to your politicians to tell them you want a healthy prosperous nature-filled world. Join, and support conservation bodies who do gargantuan hands-on work. Open up your minds, and listen to people, even those who you may think are on the wrong side. We need to get through this together, and we need to do it now.
I am not sure this will even be possible. I hope not. Bird song is so complex, and varies incredibly even from individual to individual. I really love the process of exploring bird song and deciphering what I can, with my eyes and ears. I learn so much this way, and I really feel like I’m connecting with nature. It calms me to no end and it fills my head with wonder and questions. The process is everything. So many stories jump out. I know I’ll never decipher it all. And who knows, maybe half of what I decipher is wrong!
My favourite bird is Common Whitethroat. We go way back. But in recent years, I’ve discovered that this bird has a real story to tell those who are willing to listen. This species is a wonderful mimic, and because ‘our’ whitethroats (those from the UK and Ireland) winter south of the Sahara, typically in Senegal, they bring back sounds from those far-flung tropical places. If you have the time and know-how to pick apart the song of a freshly arrived whitethroat in spring, it will tell you all about its life. It’ll tell you where it’s been, who it’s encountered, and more. Each bird has a unique story to tell, based on who it’s mimicking, what route it took, and what habitats it spent time in. I listen to these birds in windy Ireland, and tell me about exotic encounters with Iberian and Senagalese birds they’ve met in their lives - like stamps on a passport. To me, this bird is a symbol of our interconnectedness as people. What we do here in Ireland has implications across the globe. If only we came and went as peacefully as the whitethroat.
Shifting baseline syndrome is a big player in wildlife decline throughout the world. Of course capitalism, greed, an inexplicable desire for constant expansion and growth, and a lack of understanding that the earth’s resources are finite, are the biggest players, but out lack of connection with the natural world probably comes as a result of those other nasty traits, we as a species, have developed. If you are born into a world where the sky is purple and there are no birds, then this would be your baseline. This would be normal to you. Kids today would think we are crazy if we told them out car windows would be covered in insects after a drive through rural lanes when we were young. A clean window after such a drive is normal to them. Their baseline has shifted. I want my work to act as a metaphorical system restore point. I want to capture our current baseline so it can’t be forgotten. And in the event that things do worsen, our kids and grandkids will hear first hand what has been lost. And then they can fight to bring it back, and go a step further. Unfortunately I did capture the sound of Ireland’s last pair of Ring Ouzel - a species which was once present in 28 out of 32 Irish counties. Now it’s time to say goodbye to this iconic mountain songster, and this saddens me inexplicably. But I have captured its voice, and I want these recordings to stand as a symbol for the current human-driven extinction crisis we now face. I want to show people the beauty we are trashing. I want them to be sad, I want them to be mournful, and I want them to stand up and say that they’ve had enough. Most people are good, loving, and want to do the right thing in the world. And I strongly believe if we touch enough of those hearts, we can change the world for the better. But we need to act RIGHT NOW. Things are getting worse, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We just need people to know the situation, and to start making noise. The right kind of noise.
I love all birds. They are all family to me. They’re all characters which have raised me and have been there for me through thick and thin. Even on my literal deathbed at the age of 18, being pummelled by meningitis and septicaemia, birds pulled me through. I was rushed into hospital after a long night of battling, with multiple organ failure, and death knocking hard on the door. At the time I was rather obsessed with going to see wind-blown rarities. That time a gull-billed tern, typically seen much further south than Ireland, had turned up close to home. I was rather irked that meningitis got in my way of going to see that bird. My family were all called into the hospital to say goodbye to me. A social worker prepared them outside. My heart stopped, and I was luckily brought back. When I came to, I looked at the nurse and asked her if she’d take me to see the gull-billed tern. She assumed I was delirious, but I don’t think I was! All sounds that are lost are an absolute tragedy? What will they be replaced with? Groaning, diesel-burning engines? Airplanes? No thanks. We all need to stand up and say no. There are so many of us. Yes, we would all need to change our ways, and in a drastic manner. But wouldn’t it be worth it? We need to start thinking more, we need to start collaborating more. No one person has the solution, but there are many experts out there that do. And together, I am sure we can still secure a nature-filled future on this planet. Less cars, and more public transport are a no-brainer. Carbon emissions would be reduced, anthropogenic noise would be reduced, and bird song would increase. Just this week the WWF announced that the world has lost 73% of its monitored wildlife since 1970. And with that the world’s natural chorus has become simpler and quieter. How much more silent will we allow it to become?
I have come across many surprising sounds - I have been recording non-stop with multiple units on the go all over Ireland for over four years now. The one that jumps out is an interesting tale. I walk my dog in a local wood every day, to exercise him and to clear my head. He always trots ahead of me on a well-worn track. One evening we both stopped after hearing a large-sounding dog barking ahead. I knelt down next to Toby to put his lead on, and the barking sounded again, only this time it was coming from the top of a great big oak that towered over our heads. We both looked up in confusion, only to be met with a Jay, a member of the crow family, looking back down at us. The Jay was mimicking a barking dog, probably to scare Toby off. It was the breeding season, and dogs and foxes could pose a threat to young birds. Surprising situations like this have arisen many times during my escapades, and it only shows that we are really only scratching the surface with what we know and understand of the natural world. It’s gorgeous, and can provide us with inexplicable beauty and awe. We need to respect and protect it!
This is something which is hard to experience in life, because our memories of these things are short-lived. This is why it’s important to me to sound record the natural world - so I can capture sonic snapshots. This brings us back to shifting baseline syndrome. We need to make these system restore points so that future generations can be shocked and angered into fighting for a nature-filled world, assuming that their sonic snapshots will sound even further lacking/silent. Things can only keep declining to a point. Eventually, we as a species will slip away too., as 73% nears 100%. We need to understand that we cannot keep taking, taking, taking. We need to respect our planet and know that we cannot keep ‘growing’. We need to slow down and we need to give back. Bernie Krause’s warning of great silence is real. We are living it. But we need everyone to know this. We need people to stand up to the root of this ever-growing silence - capitalistic greed, and an increasing disconnection from nature.
Rewild your minds and speak up for nature. Tell everyone you know that the world as we know it is in grave danger. But also update your knowledge - get to know your local plants, birds, and insects. You’ll find inexplicable beauty right at your feet. You’ll fall in love, and you’ll want to pass on this love to others. Spend as much time in nature as you can each and every living moment. Gather people together and share experiences and ideas. Write to your politicians to tell them you want a healthy prosperous nature-filled world. Join, and support conservation bodies who do gargantuan hands-on work. Open up your minds, and listen to people, even those who you may think are on the wrong side. We need to get through this together, and we need to do it now.
I am not sure this will even be possible. I hope not. Bird song is so complex, and varies incredibly even from individual to individual. I really love the process of exploring bird song and deciphering what I can, with my eyes and ears. I learn so much this way, and I really feel like I’m connecting with nature. It calms me to no end and it fills my head with wonder and questions. The process is everything. So many stories jump out. I know I’ll never decipher it all. And who knows, maybe half of what I decipher is wrong!
Ornithologist Seán Ronayne from Cobh, Co. Cork is on a mission to record the sound of every bird species in Ireland – that’s nearly 200 birds. Often joined by his partner Alba, he travels to some of the country’s most beautiful and remote locations to capture its most elusive species and soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland free from road noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a solitary nest in the Donegal uplands. Along the way we get to know Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound has proven both a struggle and a strength. At once inspiring and cautionary, Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
BIRDSONG is a 52-minute documentary film directed by Kathleen Harris and produced by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O’Sullivan for True Films.
Seán's book, NATURE BOY, is out now.
WITH SEÀN RONAYNE
My favourite bird is Common Whitethroat. We go way back. But in recent years, I’ve discovered that this bird has a real story to tell those who are willing to listen. This species is a wonderful mimic, and because ‘our’ whitethroats (those from the UK and Ireland) winter south of the Sahara, typically in Senegal, they bring back sounds from those far-flung tropical places. If you have the time and know-how to pick apart the song of a freshly arrived whitethroat in spring, it will tell you all about its life. It’ll tell you where it’s been, who it’s encountered, and more. Each bird has a unique story to tell, based on who it’s mimicking, what route it took, and what habitats it spent time in. I listen to these birds in windy Ireland, and tell me about exotic encounters with Iberian and Senagalese birds they’ve met in their lives - like stamps on a passport. To me, this bird is a symbol of our interconnectedness as people. What we do here in Ireland has implications across the globe. If only we came and went as peacefully as the whitethroat.
Shifting baseline syndrome is a big player in wildlife decline throughout the world. Of course capitalism, greed, an inexplicable desire for constant expansion and growth, and a lack of understanding that the earth’s resources are finite, are the biggest players, but out lack of connection with the natural world probably comes as a result of those other nasty traits, we as a species, have developed. If you are born into a world where the sky is purple and there are no birds, then this would be your baseline. This would be normal to you. Kids today would think we are crazy if we told them out car windows would be covered in insects after a drive through rural lanes when we were young. A clean window after such a drive is normal to them. Their baseline has shifted. I want my work to act as a metaphorical system restore point. I want to capture our current baseline so it can’t be forgotten. And in the event that things do worsen, our kids and grandkids will hear first hand what has been lost. And then they can fight to bring it back, and go a step further. Unfortunately I did capture the sound of Ireland’s last pair of Ring Ouzel - a species which was once present in 28 out of 32 Irish counties. Now it’s time to say goodbye to this iconic mountain songster, and this saddens me inexplicably. But I have captured its voice, and I want these recordings to stand as a symbol for the current human-driven extinction crisis we now face. I want to show people the beauty we are trashing. I want them to be sad, I want them to be mournful, and I want them to stand up and say that they’ve had enough. Most people are good, loving, and want to do the right thing in the world. And I strongly believe if we touch enough of those hearts, we can change the world for the better. But we need to act RIGHT NOW. Things are getting worse, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We just need people to know the situation, and to start making noise. The right kind of noise.
I love all birds. They are all family to me. They’re all characters which have raised me and have been there for me through thick and thin. Even on my literal deathbed at the age of 18, being pummelled by meningitis and septicaemia, birds pulled me through. I was rushed into hospital after a long night of battling, with multiple organ failure, and death knocking hard on the door. At the time I was rather obsessed with going to see wind-blown rarities. That time a gull-billed tern, typically seen much further south than Ireland, had turned up close to home. I was rather irked that meningitis got in my way of going to see that bird. My family were all called into the hospital to say goodbye to me. A social worker prepared them outside. My heart stopped, and I was luckily brought back. When I came to, I looked at the nurse and asked her if she’d take me to see the gull-billed tern. She assumed I was delirious, but I don’t think I was! All sounds that are lost are an absolute tragedy? What will they be replaced with? Groaning, diesel-burning engines? Airplanes? No thanks. We all need to stand up and say no. There are so many of us. Yes, we would all need to change our ways, and in a drastic manner. But wouldn’t it be worth it? We need to start thinking more, we need to start collaborating more. No one person has the solution, but there are many experts out there that do. And together, I am sure we can still secure a nature-filled future on this planet. Less cars, and more public transport are a no-brainer. Carbon emissions would be reduced, anthropogenic noise would be reduced, and bird song would increase. Just this week the WWF announced that the world has lost 73% of its monitored wildlife since 1970. And with that the world’s natural chorus has become simpler and quieter. How much more silent will we allow it to become?
I have come across many surprising sounds - I have been recording non-stop with multiple units on the go all over Ireland for over four years now. The one that jumps out is an interesting tale. I walk my dog in a local wood every day, to exercise him and to clear my head. He always trots ahead of me on a well-worn track. One evening we both stopped after hearing a large-sounding dog barking ahead. I knelt down next to Toby to put his lead on, and the barking sounded again, only this time it was coming from the top of a great big oak that towered over our heads. We both looked up in confusion, only to be met with a Jay, a member of the crow family, looking back down at us. The Jay was mimicking a barking dog, probably to scare Toby off. It was the breeding season, and dogs and foxes could pose a threat to young birds. Surprising situations like this have arisen many times during my escapades, and it only shows that we are really only scratching the surface with what we know and understand of the natural world. It’s gorgeous, and can provide us with inexplicable beauty and awe. We need to respect and protect it!
This is something which is hard to experience in life, because our memories of these things are short-lived. This is why it’s important to me to sound record the natural world - so I can capture sonic snapshots. This brings us back to shifting baseline syndrome. We need to make these system restore points so that future generations can be shocked and angered into fighting for a nature-filled world, assuming that their sonic snapshots will sound even further lacking/silent. Things can only keep declining to a point. Eventually, we as a species will slip away too., as 73% nears 100%. We need to understand that we cannot keep taking, taking, taking. We need to respect our planet and know that we cannot keep ‘growing’. We need to slow down and we need to give back. Bernie Krause’s warning of great silence is real. We are living it. But we need everyone to know this. We need people to stand up to the root of this ever-growing silence - capitalistic greed, and an increasing disconnection from nature.
Rewild your minds and speak up for nature. Tell everyone you know that the world as we know it is in grave danger. But also update your knowledge - get to know your local plants, birds, and insects. You’ll find inexplicable beauty right at your feet. You’ll fall in love, and you’ll want to pass on this love to others. Spend as much time in nature as you can each and every living moment. Gather people together and share experiences and ideas. Write to your politicians to tell them you want a healthy prosperous nature-filled world. Join, and support conservation bodies who do gargantuan hands-on work. Open up your minds, and listen to people, even those who you may think are on the wrong side. We need to get through this together, and we need to do it now.
I am not sure this will even be possible. I hope not. Bird song is so complex, and varies incredibly even from individual to individual. I really love the process of exploring bird song and deciphering what I can, with my eyes and ears. I learn so much this way, and I really feel like I’m connecting with nature. It calms me to no end and it fills my head with wonder and questions. The process is everything. So many stories jump out. I know I’ll never decipher it all. And who knows, maybe half of what I decipher is wrong!
My favourite bird is Common Whitethroat. We go way back. But in recent years, I’ve discovered that this bird has a real story to tell those who are willing to listen. This species is a wonderful mimic, and because ‘our’ whitethroats (those from the UK and Ireland) winter south of the Sahara, typically in Senegal, they bring back sounds from those far-flung tropical places. If you have the time and know-how to pick apart the song of a freshly arrived whitethroat in spring, it will tell you all about its life. It’ll tell you where it’s been, who it’s encountered, and more. Each bird has a unique story to tell, based on who it’s mimicking, what route it took, and what habitats it spent time in. I listen to these birds in windy Ireland, and tell me about exotic encounters with Iberian and Senagalese birds they’ve met in their lives - like stamps on a passport. To me, this bird is a symbol of our interconnectedness as people. What we do here in Ireland has implications across the globe. If only we came and went as peacefully as the whitethroat.
Shifting baseline syndrome is a big player in wildlife decline throughout the world. Of course capitalism, greed, an inexplicable desire for constant expansion and growth, and a lack of understanding that the earth’s resources are finite, are the biggest players, but out lack of connection with the natural world probably comes as a result of those other nasty traits, we as a species, have developed. If you are born into a world where the sky is purple and there are no birds, then this would be your baseline. This would be normal to you. Kids today would think we are crazy if we told them out car windows would be covered in insects after a drive through rural lanes when we were young. A clean window after such a drive is normal to them. Their baseline has shifted. I want my work to act as a metaphorical system restore point. I want to capture our current baseline so it can’t be forgotten. And in the event that things do worsen, our kids and grandkids will hear first hand what has been lost. And then they can fight to bring it back, and go a step further. Unfortunately I did capture the sound of Ireland’s last pair of Ring Ouzel - a species which was once present in 28 out of 32 Irish counties. Now it’s time to say goodbye to this iconic mountain songster, and this saddens me inexplicably. But I have captured its voice, and I want these recordings to stand as a symbol for the current human-driven extinction crisis we now face. I want to show people the beauty we are trashing. I want them to be sad, I want them to be mournful, and I want them to stand up and say that they’ve had enough. Most people are good, loving, and want to do the right thing in the world. And I strongly believe if we touch enough of those hearts, we can change the world for the better. But we need to act RIGHT NOW. Things are getting worse, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We just need people to know the situation, and to start making noise. The right kind of noise.
I love all birds. They are all family to me. They’re all characters which have raised me and have been there for me through thick and thin. Even on my literal deathbed at the age of 18, being pummelled by meningitis and septicaemia, birds pulled me through. I was rushed into hospital after a long night of battling, with multiple organ failure, and death knocking hard on the door. At the time I was rather obsessed with going to see wind-blown rarities. That time a gull-billed tern, typically seen much further south than Ireland, had turned up close to home. I was rather irked that meningitis got in my way of going to see that bird. My family were all called into the hospital to say goodbye to me. A social worker prepared them outside. My heart stopped, and I was luckily brought back. When I came to, I looked at the nurse and asked her if she’d take me to see the gull-billed tern. She assumed I was delirious, but I don’t think I was! All sounds that are lost are an absolute tragedy? What will they be replaced with? Groaning, diesel-burning engines? Airplanes? No thanks. We all need to stand up and say no. There are so many of us. Yes, we would all need to change our ways, and in a drastic manner. But wouldn’t it be worth it? We need to start thinking more, we need to start collaborating more. No one person has the solution, but there are many experts out there that do. And together, I am sure we can still secure a nature-filled future on this planet. Less cars, and more public transport are a no-brainer. Carbon emissions would be reduced, anthropogenic noise would be reduced, and bird song would increase. Just this week the WWF announced that the world has lost 73% of its monitored wildlife since 1970. And with that the world’s natural chorus has become simpler and quieter. How much more silent will we allow it to become?
I have come across many surprising sounds - I have been recording non-stop with multiple units on the go all over Ireland for over four years now. The one that jumps out is an interesting tale. I walk my dog in a local wood every day, to exercise him and to clear my head. He always trots ahead of me on a well-worn track. One evening we both stopped after hearing a large-sounding dog barking ahead. I knelt down next to Toby to put his lead on, and the barking sounded again, only this time it was coming from the top of a great big oak that towered over our heads. We both looked up in confusion, only to be met with a Jay, a member of the crow family, looking back down at us. The Jay was mimicking a barking dog, probably to scare Toby off. It was the breeding season, and dogs and foxes could pose a threat to young birds. Surprising situations like this have arisen many times during my escapades, and it only shows that we are really only scratching the surface with what we know and understand of the natural world. It’s gorgeous, and can provide us with inexplicable beauty and awe. We need to respect and protect it!
This is something which is hard to experience in life, because our memories of these things are short-lived. This is why it’s important to me to sound record the natural world - so I can capture sonic snapshots. This brings us back to shifting baseline syndrome. We need to make these system restore points so that future generations can be shocked and angered into fighting for a nature-filled world, assuming that their sonic snapshots will sound even further lacking/silent. Things can only keep declining to a point. Eventually, we as a species will slip away too., as 73% nears 100%. We need to understand that we cannot keep taking, taking, taking. We need to respect our planet and know that we cannot keep ‘growing’. We need to slow down and we need to give back. Bernie Krause’s warning of great silence is real. We are living it. But we need everyone to know this. We need people to stand up to the root of this ever-growing silence - capitalistic greed, and an increasing disconnection from nature.
Rewild your minds and speak up for nature. Tell everyone you know that the world as we know it is in grave danger. But also update your knowledge - get to know your local plants, birds, and insects. You’ll find inexplicable beauty right at your feet. You’ll fall in love, and you’ll want to pass on this love to others. Spend as much time in nature as you can each and every living moment. Gather people together and share experiences and ideas. Write to your politicians to tell them you want a healthy prosperous nature-filled world. Join, and support conservation bodies who do gargantuan hands-on work. Open up your minds, and listen to people, even those who you may think are on the wrong side. We need to get through this together, and we need to do it now.
I am not sure this will even be possible. I hope not. Bird song is so complex, and varies incredibly even from individual to individual. I really love the process of exploring bird song and deciphering what I can, with my eyes and ears. I learn so much this way, and I really feel like I’m connecting with nature. It calms me to no end and it fills my head with wonder and questions. The process is everything. So many stories jump out. I know I’ll never decipher it all. And who knows, maybe half of what I decipher is wrong!
Ornithologist Seán Ronayne from Cobh, Co. Cork is on a mission to record the sound of every bird species in Ireland – that’s nearly 200 birds. Often joined by his partner Alba, he travels to some of the country’s most beautiful and remote locations to capture its most elusive species and soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland free from road noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a solitary nest in the Donegal uplands. Along the way we get to know Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound has proven both a struggle and a strength. At once inspiring and cautionary, Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
BIRDSONG is a 52-minute documentary film directed by Kathleen Harris and produced by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O’Sullivan for True Films.
Seán's book, NATURE BOY, is out now.
WITH SEÀN RONAYNE
My favourite bird is Common Whitethroat. We go way back. But in recent years, I’ve discovered that this bird has a real story to tell those who are willing to listen. This species is a wonderful mimic, and because ‘our’ whitethroats (those from the UK and Ireland) winter south of the Sahara, typically in Senegal, they bring back sounds from those far-flung tropical places. If you have the time and know-how to pick apart the song of a freshly arrived whitethroat in spring, it will tell you all about its life. It’ll tell you where it’s been, who it’s encountered, and more. Each bird has a unique story to tell, based on who it’s mimicking, what route it took, and what habitats it spent time in. I listen to these birds in windy Ireland, and tell me about exotic encounters with Iberian and Senagalese birds they’ve met in their lives - like stamps on a passport. To me, this bird is a symbol of our interconnectedness as people. What we do here in Ireland has implications across the globe. If only we came and went as peacefully as the whitethroat.
Shifting baseline syndrome is a big player in wildlife decline throughout the world. Of course capitalism, greed, an inexplicable desire for constant expansion and growth, and a lack of understanding that the earth’s resources are finite, are the biggest players, but out lack of connection with the natural world probably comes as a result of those other nasty traits, we as a species, have developed. If you are born into a world where the sky is purple and there are no birds, then this would be your baseline. This would be normal to you. Kids today would think we are crazy if we told them out car windows would be covered in insects after a drive through rural lanes when we were young. A clean window after such a drive is normal to them. Their baseline has shifted. I want my work to act as a metaphorical system restore point. I want to capture our current baseline so it can’t be forgotten. And in the event that things do worsen, our kids and grandkids will hear first hand what has been lost. And then they can fight to bring it back, and go a step further. Unfortunately I did capture the sound of Ireland’s last pair of Ring Ouzel - a species which was once present in 28 out of 32 Irish counties. Now it’s time to say goodbye to this iconic mountain songster, and this saddens me inexplicably. But I have captured its voice, and I want these recordings to stand as a symbol for the current human-driven extinction crisis we now face. I want to show people the beauty we are trashing. I want them to be sad, I want them to be mournful, and I want them to stand up and say that they’ve had enough. Most people are good, loving, and want to do the right thing in the world. And I strongly believe if we touch enough of those hearts, we can change the world for the better. But we need to act RIGHT NOW. Things are getting worse, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We just need people to know the situation, and to start making noise. The right kind of noise.
I love all birds. They are all family to me. They’re all characters which have raised me and have been there for me through thick and thin. Even on my literal deathbed at the age of 18, being pummelled by meningitis and septicaemia, birds pulled me through. I was rushed into hospital after a long night of battling, with multiple organ failure, and death knocking hard on the door. At the time I was rather obsessed with going to see wind-blown rarities. That time a gull-billed tern, typically seen much further south than Ireland, had turned up close to home. I was rather irked that meningitis got in my way of going to see that bird. My family were all called into the hospital to say goodbye to me. A social worker prepared them outside. My heart stopped, and I was luckily brought back. When I came to, I looked at the nurse and asked her if she’d take me to see the gull-billed tern. She assumed I was delirious, but I don’t think I was! All sounds that are lost are an absolute tragedy? What will they be replaced with? Groaning, diesel-burning engines? Airplanes? No thanks. We all need to stand up and say no. There are so many of us. Yes, we would all need to change our ways, and in a drastic manner. But wouldn’t it be worth it? We need to start thinking more, we need to start collaborating more. No one person has the solution, but there are many experts out there that do. And together, I am sure we can still secure a nature-filled future on this planet. Less cars, and more public transport are a no-brainer. Carbon emissions would be reduced, anthropogenic noise would be reduced, and bird song would increase. Just this week the WWF announced that the world has lost 73% of its monitored wildlife since 1970. And with that the world’s natural chorus has become simpler and quieter. How much more silent will we allow it to become?
I have come across many surprising sounds - I have been recording non-stop with multiple units on the go all over Ireland for over four years now. The one that jumps out is an interesting tale. I walk my dog in a local wood every day, to exercise him and to clear my head. He always trots ahead of me on a well-worn track. One evening we both stopped after hearing a large-sounding dog barking ahead. I knelt down next to Toby to put his lead on, and the barking sounded again, only this time it was coming from the top of a great big oak that towered over our heads. We both looked up in confusion, only to be met with a Jay, a member of the crow family, looking back down at us. The Jay was mimicking a barking dog, probably to scare Toby off. It was the breeding season, and dogs and foxes could pose a threat to young birds. Surprising situations like this have arisen many times during my escapades, and it only shows that we are really only scratching the surface with what we know and understand of the natural world. It’s gorgeous, and can provide us with inexplicable beauty and awe. We need to respect and protect it!
This is something which is hard to experience in life, because our memories of these things are short-lived. This is why it’s important to me to sound record the natural world - so I can capture sonic snapshots. This brings us back to shifting baseline syndrome. We need to make these system restore points so that future generations can be shocked and angered into fighting for a nature-filled world, assuming that their sonic snapshots will sound even further lacking/silent. Things can only keep declining to a point. Eventually, we as a species will slip away too., as 73% nears 100%. We need to understand that we cannot keep taking, taking, taking. We need to respect our planet and know that we cannot keep ‘growing’. We need to slow down and we need to give back. Bernie Krause’s warning of great silence is real. We are living it. But we need everyone to know this. We need people to stand up to the root of this ever-growing silence - capitalistic greed, and an increasing disconnection from nature.
Rewild your minds and speak up for nature. Tell everyone you know that the world as we know it is in grave danger. But also update your knowledge - get to know your local plants, birds, and insects. You’ll find inexplicable beauty right at your feet. You’ll fall in love, and you’ll want to pass on this love to others. Spend as much time in nature as you can each and every living moment. Gather people together and share experiences and ideas. Write to your politicians to tell them you want a healthy prosperous nature-filled world. Join, and support conservation bodies who do gargantuan hands-on work. Open up your minds, and listen to people, even those who you may think are on the wrong side. We need to get through this together, and we need to do it now.
I am not sure this will even be possible. I hope not. Bird song is so complex, and varies incredibly even from individual to individual. I really love the process of exploring bird song and deciphering what I can, with my eyes and ears. I learn so much this way, and I really feel like I’m connecting with nature. It calms me to no end and it fills my head with wonder and questions. The process is everything. So many stories jump out. I know I’ll never decipher it all. And who knows, maybe half of what I decipher is wrong!
My favourite bird is Common Whitethroat. We go way back. But in recent years, I’ve discovered that this bird has a real story to tell those who are willing to listen. This species is a wonderful mimic, and because ‘our’ whitethroats (those from the UK and Ireland) winter south of the Sahara, typically in Senegal, they bring back sounds from those far-flung tropical places. If you have the time and know-how to pick apart the song of a freshly arrived whitethroat in spring, it will tell you all about its life. It’ll tell you where it’s been, who it’s encountered, and more. Each bird has a unique story to tell, based on who it’s mimicking, what route it took, and what habitats it spent time in. I listen to these birds in windy Ireland, and tell me about exotic encounters with Iberian and Senagalese birds they’ve met in their lives - like stamps on a passport. To me, this bird is a symbol of our interconnectedness as people. What we do here in Ireland has implications across the globe. If only we came and went as peacefully as the whitethroat.
Shifting baseline syndrome is a big player in wildlife decline throughout the world. Of course capitalism, greed, an inexplicable desire for constant expansion and growth, and a lack of understanding that the earth’s resources are finite, are the biggest players, but out lack of connection with the natural world probably comes as a result of those other nasty traits, we as a species, have developed. If you are born into a world where the sky is purple and there are no birds, then this would be your baseline. This would be normal to you. Kids today would think we are crazy if we told them out car windows would be covered in insects after a drive through rural lanes when we were young. A clean window after such a drive is normal to them. Their baseline has shifted. I want my work to act as a metaphorical system restore point. I want to capture our current baseline so it can’t be forgotten. And in the event that things do worsen, our kids and grandkids will hear first hand what has been lost. And then they can fight to bring it back, and go a step further. Unfortunately I did capture the sound of Ireland’s last pair of Ring Ouzel - a species which was once present in 28 out of 32 Irish counties. Now it’s time to say goodbye to this iconic mountain songster, and this saddens me inexplicably. But I have captured its voice, and I want these recordings to stand as a symbol for the current human-driven extinction crisis we now face. I want to show people the beauty we are trashing. I want them to be sad, I want them to be mournful, and I want them to stand up and say that they’ve had enough. Most people are good, loving, and want to do the right thing in the world. And I strongly believe if we touch enough of those hearts, we can change the world for the better. But we need to act RIGHT NOW. Things are getting worse, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We just need people to know the situation, and to start making noise. The right kind of noise.
I love all birds. They are all family to me. They’re all characters which have raised me and have been there for me through thick and thin. Even on my literal deathbed at the age of 18, being pummelled by meningitis and septicaemia, birds pulled me through. I was rushed into hospital after a long night of battling, with multiple organ failure, and death knocking hard on the door. At the time I was rather obsessed with going to see wind-blown rarities. That time a gull-billed tern, typically seen much further south than Ireland, had turned up close to home. I was rather irked that meningitis got in my way of going to see that bird. My family were all called into the hospital to say goodbye to me. A social worker prepared them outside. My heart stopped, and I was luckily brought back. When I came to, I looked at the nurse and asked her if she’d take me to see the gull-billed tern. She assumed I was delirious, but I don’t think I was! All sounds that are lost are an absolute tragedy? What will they be replaced with? Groaning, diesel-burning engines? Airplanes? No thanks. We all need to stand up and say no. There are so many of us. Yes, we would all need to change our ways, and in a drastic manner. But wouldn’t it be worth it? We need to start thinking more, we need to start collaborating more. No one person has the solution, but there are many experts out there that do. And together, I am sure we can still secure a nature-filled future on this planet. Less cars, and more public transport are a no-brainer. Carbon emissions would be reduced, anthropogenic noise would be reduced, and bird song would increase. Just this week the WWF announced that the world has lost 73% of its monitored wildlife since 1970. And with that the world’s natural chorus has become simpler and quieter. How much more silent will we allow it to become?
I have come across many surprising sounds - I have been recording non-stop with multiple units on the go all over Ireland for over four years now. The one that jumps out is an interesting tale. I walk my dog in a local wood every day, to exercise him and to clear my head. He always trots ahead of me on a well-worn track. One evening we both stopped after hearing a large-sounding dog barking ahead. I knelt down next to Toby to put his lead on, and the barking sounded again, only this time it was coming from the top of a great big oak that towered over our heads. We both looked up in confusion, only to be met with a Jay, a member of the crow family, looking back down at us. The Jay was mimicking a barking dog, probably to scare Toby off. It was the breeding season, and dogs and foxes could pose a threat to young birds. Surprising situations like this have arisen many times during my escapades, and it only shows that we are really only scratching the surface with what we know and understand of the natural world. It’s gorgeous, and can provide us with inexplicable beauty and awe. We need to respect and protect it!
This is something which is hard to experience in life, because our memories of these things are short-lived. This is why it’s important to me to sound record the natural world - so I can capture sonic snapshots. This brings us back to shifting baseline syndrome. We need to make these system restore points so that future generations can be shocked and angered into fighting for a nature-filled world, assuming that their sonic snapshots will sound even further lacking/silent. Things can only keep declining to a point. Eventually, we as a species will slip away too., as 73% nears 100%. We need to understand that we cannot keep taking, taking, taking. We need to respect our planet and know that we cannot keep ‘growing’. We need to slow down and we need to give back. Bernie Krause’s warning of great silence is real. We are living it. But we need everyone to know this. We need people to stand up to the root of this ever-growing silence - capitalistic greed, and an increasing disconnection from nature.
Rewild your minds and speak up for nature. Tell everyone you know that the world as we know it is in grave danger. But also update your knowledge - get to know your local plants, birds, and insects. You’ll find inexplicable beauty right at your feet. You’ll fall in love, and you’ll want to pass on this love to others. Spend as much time in nature as you can each and every living moment. Gather people together and share experiences and ideas. Write to your politicians to tell them you want a healthy prosperous nature-filled world. Join, and support conservation bodies who do gargantuan hands-on work. Open up your minds, and listen to people, even those who you may think are on the wrong side. We need to get through this together, and we need to do it now.
I am not sure this will even be possible. I hope not. Bird song is so complex, and varies incredibly even from individual to individual. I really love the process of exploring bird song and deciphering what I can, with my eyes and ears. I learn so much this way, and I really feel like I’m connecting with nature. It calms me to no end and it fills my head with wonder and questions. The process is everything. So many stories jump out. I know I’ll never decipher it all. And who knows, maybe half of what I decipher is wrong!
Ornithologist Seán Ronayne from Cobh, Co. Cork is on a mission to record the sound of every bird species in Ireland – that’s nearly 200 birds. Often joined by his partner Alba, he travels to some of the country’s most beautiful and remote locations to capture its most elusive species and soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland free from road noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a solitary nest in the Donegal uplands. Along the way we get to know Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound has proven both a struggle and a strength. At once inspiring and cautionary, Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
BIRDSONG is a 52-minute documentary film directed by Kathleen Harris and produced by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O’Sullivan for True Films.
Seán's book, NATURE BOY, is out now.