297 Sonorous rural woodland before an approaching storm

About this episode

This episode captures the natural soundscape of rural woodland in Leicestershire and Rutland before a powerful thunderstorm.

Last week we took the Lento box to capture the natural soundscapes of rural Leicestershire and Rutland. Our visit coincided with the warmest May temperatures on record and as it turned out the most powerful thunderstorms we'd ever experienced. On the evening of 26 May huge storm clouds swept into the valley, centering exactly over a remote wooded area where we'd left the Lento box tied to a tree to capture the natural soundscape. An hour later the storm was still directly overhead with ear-splitting thunderclaps and fork lightning. We crossed our fingers that the mics would be alright. We collected the box the next morning. The mics survived but the box was drenched. In this episode we're sharing the hour leading up to those lightning strikes. Listening is a rare opportunity to experience the sound-feel of being within an empty rural woodland as the trees and wildlife prepare to ride out the on-coming tumult. Gain full aural immersion of this woodland soundscape with headphones or ear pods. The clarity and spatial reverberances of the spring birdsong. The 360 degree humming created by millions of tiny bees and other insects engaged in their daily foraging. Hear how a small deer…

People in this episode

Host: Hugh Huddy

Topics covered

• natural soundscapes
• rural woodland
• thunderstorm
• wildlife
• aural immersion

Keywords

• soundscape
• thunder
• wildlife
• birds
• rural
• woodland
• nature
• immersion

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Leicestershire, Rutland

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