Great Snipe Lek by Wildsong published on 2015-08-03T17:24:56Z Biebrza Marshes 23.5.2002 Returning from recording aquatic warblers at nightfall one evening I caught the faintest whisper of a pixie party happening somewhere out over the flood meadows. Surely not - an elusive great snipe lek, unknown to the official birding parties scavenging for rarities and spectacles? I approached cautiously to try to get a closer fix on its location - difficult in the vast undifferentiated expanse of low sedges and grasses, and the disappearing light. But it seemed to be in the vicinity of a small patch that appeared whiter in the gloom, maybe a colony of some lighter-coloured plant. I took a trig from some distant silhouetted landmarks and headed back to base over a mile away. I discussed it with my local contact, who happened to own this land; sure enough this was an unknown lek and yes he was happy for me to have a go at recording it when conditions were good. For a while the wind blew. Then a few days later at the end of a hot afternoon, with the breeze dropping to negligible, I decided to go for it. I headed out a couple of hours before dusk to put the mics in place and got a disheartening shock when I flushed a few of the birds - early arrivals waiting for dusk. And no sign of my white patch. But there was an area with a concentration of dandelion stalks; so just maybe the whiter area had been the seed heads, now blown off in the last few days winds. So I set my mics up there, ran a 100m cable off to a peaty gulley and headed off to the river to wait for twilight. I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I returned cautiously. Put on the headphones and wow, they were right there. They put on a good show - purely for my ears, as I couldn’t see them. But I was very happy. The mosquitoes were bad that balmy night, but I was well insulated. No blood donations. Many thanks to Colin Bradshaw for use of his photo. Genre bird song Comment by Shakeel Ahmed Khaskheli amezing...could you tell me about mic setup stereo pattern .. 2022-06-20T15:57:54Z Comment by Guillermo Funes Wonderful recording. What equipment did you use? 2020-08-15T18:14:38Z Comment by Peckhamryecrow Mesmerizing 2019-04-14T08:24:42Z Comment by soundswild I have heard them from a distance and always wanted to get this close to record them. Good work Geoff. 2015-08-15T07:05:37Z Comment by Instruments of Flight I definitely hear mosquitos. 2015-08-14T05:50:56Z Comment by lewis in heaven waw 2015-08-08T12:21:54Z Comment by Singwarte Media fantastic recording! 2015-08-08T12:04:40Z Comment by Wildsong If anyone has any suggestions as to what is giving this 'hawa-hawa...' call in the background, I'd appreciate it. 2015-08-03T17:28:35Z