Calm Dawn Chorus by the Lake

I recorded this soundscape at Lake Cuejdel in one of Romania’s wildest and most beautiful landscapes.

I discovered the lake last year with the help of my friend Gheorghe Popa. He has some amazing photos from these parts and I encourage you to check them out: / gheorghepopa_gphoto . I spent many hours hiking and listening around the lake, but only in late summer and then again in winter. The birdsong was rather muted at those times of the year, and I yearned to come back in spring.

A few weeks ago I flew back to Romania to lead a field recording workshop in the landscapes that I grew up in, and of course I had to check out the lake. With a bit of help from the director of Vanatori Neamt Natural Park and the forestry authorities, I obtained access and I took our little group there at 4 am to experience the dawn chorus.

It’s difficult to put into words what it felt like to be there. There was a little bit of soft light and fog above the lake. The dawn chorus had already started when we got there, and a myriad birds were singing their hearts out. This would be enough to leave a lasting impression on me and my companions, but there was an extra element that took it to a whole different level.

The surface of the lake was like a mirror, both in visual and sonic terms. Birds singing across the lake could be heard very easily. When their calls reached the opposite edge, the forest bounced them back. With loud enough calls, this happened several times until the sonic energy was completely dissipated. It all added up to an experience not unlike a concert hall, where the beautiful acoustics make an already lovely performance even better.

The interesting part is that the softer bird calls couldn’t reach the other edge of the lake. Only certain calls that were loud enough would be treated to this effect. Buzzards and Ural owls, and to some extent Cuckoos can be heard accompanied by long echoes. Occasionally a woodpecker drumming sound will leave a long acoustic trail. At the other end of this spectrum, birds flying very close to the mics, or mallards landing on the water nearby provide an amplified foreground every now and then.

This careful layering makes it an amazing and complex experience. We had to walk around a bit and to try a few locations before we found the best perspective to capture it. Needless to say, this wouldn’t be possible in a busier location where anthropophony overpowers the softer, more delicate elements of the soundscape.