All Yours
Noise Pollution
by BobCarter
about 1 month ago
in group
Wild About Hull & East Riding
Last updated about 1 month ago.
Silence is golden, or so they say. Apparently, it’s also very rare! When was the last time that you experienced silence – or rather, just the sound of nature? A story in the national press recently reported that Andrew Flintham’s attempts to record an entire morning chorus (of around 60 to 90 minutes) of British birdsong have so far been unsuccessful due to the background sounds of traffic, planes and other man-made sounds and noises. He recorded the morning chorus about fifteen years ago in Norfolk and it was, perhaps surprisingly, a best-seller at the time. He has travelled around in search of a location free of unnatural noise pollution and has even tried remote parts of Scotland but even here, he cannot get his uninterrupted recording! Is the only way we can experience silence for even just one hour to buy a pair of ear-plugs? We really do seem to be surrounded by noise! It is believed that in our towns and cities some birds have taken to singing louder or in a higher pitch to overcome their song being drowned out altogether – this could also partly explain why the Robin is taking advantage of the relatively quieter evenings to sing his song – as discussed in the Dawn Chorus post in the Wild About Hull & East Riding group recently? The sale of CDs of natural sounds of running water, birdsong, and even recently one of rain (yes, just rain!) have risen in recent years – partly because of their convenience but also because you simply can’t enjoy these sounds anywhere anymore. They are believed to be relaxing and even therapeutic, having a calming effect on the mind, body and soul. If we believe this is true, what does this say about the effects on us of being constantly surrounded by noise pollution? If you know of anywhere that you think it might be possible to record 60 minutes of birdsong without noise pollution than Mr Flintham would love to hear from you. Come to think of it, so would I!
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MikeCovell Submitted about 1 month ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!
I went for a walk into Sculcoates yesterday Bob, and walking from East Hull I took a shortcut through track near the old Reckitts fields. It was quite enough to hear the birds, but the industry from Stoneferry was a constant reminder of where I actually was.
Whilst walking, my foot got entangled in something, upon looking I realsed it was a snare! Someone had placed it next to a tree on the grass, and it had blown partially onto the spot where I had been walking. It was a thin metal wire, like piano wire, or cheese wire, and was firm around my left shoe. In the struggle to free myself, it caught my right shoe. I gripped the wire and snapped it, pulling the snare from the ground and took it to be desposed of, warning a couple of dog walkers to be cautious.
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BobCarter Submitted about 1 month ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!
MikeCovell – You wouldn’t really expect much silence in these industrial areas of course, I reckon you’d probably hear a morning cough rather than a morning chorus in some of them! The snare is worrying – there are a lot of foxes in these areas. I often walk around them and most people who you chat to tell you about the foxes, and, as you know, most of them are out walking their dogs. The snares don’t discriminate!
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MikeCovell Submitted about 1 month ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!
It caught me Bob! I should have stayed there until they returned!
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BobCarter Submitted about 1 month ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!
MikeCovell – Mike, as Sgt.Phil Esterhaus of copshow Hill Street Blues fame would say, "Hey, let’s be careful out there."!
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