Sunday 7 November 2021

A Birdsong Garden - Autumn Passage


A BIRDSONG GARDEN - AUTUMN PASSAGE (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)

BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 18th October 2021

From the young chiffchaff taking its first words, to the cacophony of pheasants and mallards over the river, in autumn Geoff and his family begin to appreciate the annual visitors on their doorstep as the swallows come...and go once again.

The lockdown through the spring of 2020 gave much space for reflection about life; and for wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample an opportunity to review the five-year period spent in the remote and quiet Northumbrian home he sought out, to record and study the birdsong of a typical rural garden.

Part of a five-part series, 'A Birdsong Garden' is a mix of memoir, natural history, folklore, birdsong and spacious soundscapes.

Geoff takes us through Autumn and considers how living close to and listening intently to nature can enrich our lives.

Presenter and Producer: Geoff Sample

Executive Producer: Clare Freeman

Commissioned for Culture in Quarantine, funded and supported by The Space Arts, BBC Arts and Arts Council England.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in August 2020.