Northumberland man brings garden birdsong to BBC Radio 3
and live on Freeview channel 276
Whittingam man Geoff Sample presents ‘The Essay: A Birdsong Garden’, a series of five 14-minute episodes, from August 24-28 at 10.45pm.
The series takes the listener through the changing seasons and soundscape of a year, beginning in May, the month of the full chorus, through to the return of spring again.
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Hide AdIn a mix of memoir, natural history, folklore, birdsong and spacious soundscapes, Geoff, a wildlife sound recordist, considers how living close to, and listening intently to nature can enrich our lives.
![Geoff Sample has previously worked on workshops with Glendale Middle School.](https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/webimg/b25lY21zOjU5MmM1OTE3LWY0NTQtNGQxNi04ZDYyLTQyNDhmYTcxNDYyZjo2NmU4NjI4OS01M2ZhLTRmNDktYmQ1OC0zNTQ3MDU4M2I0NzU=.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![Geoff Sample has previously worked on workshops with Glendale Middle School.](/img/placeholder.png)
The coronavirus pandemic – and the peace and quiet of lockdown – has made many people more aware of the beauty of birdsong on our doorsteps.
It also gave Geoff an opportunity to review the five-year period spent in the remote and quiet Northumberland home he sought out, to record and study the birdsong of a typical rural garden.
The first episode features the dawn chorus of May in the Vale of Whittingham, picking out redstart, garden warbler and robin for a closer listen, and considers how birdsong provides a subliminal sountrack to our lives and solace in times of stress.
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Hide AdFollow up episodes feature nightingales, chiffchaff, pheasants, swallows, owls, blackbirds and dunnocks.
A Birdsong Garden was commissioned for Culture In Quarantine, funded and supported by The Space Arts, BBC Arts and Arts Council England.
Listen via https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000m076