Radio Lento podcast24 Heinä 2021

77 The cuckoo of Swanscombe Marsh

Swanscombe is one of the last surviving brownfield sites in the Thames Estuary where threatened wildlife can live. On the Kent side of the Thames, to the east of the QEII bridge, opposite Grays on the Essex side, it is an oasis of natural quiet. We took a train and a bus to get there, then walked a sloping path, paved then muddy with the sound of the road dying away. The marsh was full of fascinating life, though empty of people, except for a couple of weekday birders who gave us a wave.

Onwards we walked, heading to the UK's tallest pylon, scraping the sky from the very edge of the river. Impossibly high at 600 feet. We hoped it'd hum, or be drizzling so we'd hear it fizz, or windy so we'd hear a whistle, But instead it stood silently in accepting partnership with its sibling on the other side of the river.

Though strictly-speaking too quiet to record, we tied the mics onto one of the giant pylon's legs anyway, and left them alone. Listening back, days later, we discovered the mics had captured not only splashes of the lapping Thames and the wide spatial feeling of the place, but also some astonishing and unexpected sounds. Listen and hear the gifts from the marsh. Truly, a magical precious location to be protected.

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How many different birds can you hear singing on the marsh? Surprising answers revealed by the winner of the first Radio Lento Golden Lobes quiz see our blog!

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Find out more about the campaign to Save Swanscombe Marshes.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(300)

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20 Kesä 1h 32min

297 Sonorous rural woodland before an approaching storm

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295 Low tide on the causeway - part II (sleep safe with occasional herring gulls and oyster catchers)

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16 Huhti 1h 1min

294 Dawn in Shelve Wood Shropshire with cuckoo

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21 Maalis 1h 1min

293 Pools of Rye Harbour (sleep safe)

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292 Moorland trees in December gales - Derbyshire (sleep safe after owls at start)

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291 High tide turning - the Crouch Estuary in Essex (sleep safe)

The waves settle into wavelets. The wavelets settle to calm. Then it's just the pure sound of estuary emptiness, at night. Following on from episode 288 it's several hours later, about 4 in the mornin...

1 Helmi 49min