Cameroon birds are here!
Music Across Continents update from the first month in the field.
Hi everyone,
A quick note at the start — I know I wrote recently, and thank you for taking the time to read it. This one is shorter, and if you prefer to go straight to the new film, here it is:
Stunning Cameroon — Following the Sounds of Bird Migration: Music Across Continents
For those who want a bit more context, here’s the story.
Over the last weeks I’ve been travelling across Cameroon searching for the birds that leave Europe to winter here. Most of the work took place inside the Douala–Edéa reserve, moving between forests, mangroves, sandbanks and mudflats. Almost everything happened on water, long days by boat, storms, rain, heat and quiet moments between islands.
I came looking for Eurasian Curlew, Green Sandpipers and other wintering waterbirds. With Martin from the Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society, we explored remote islands and mudflats, scanning the horizon for shapes that had crossed continents to reach these wetlands. We found them! Ospreys, Barn Swallows, Common Sandpipers, Curlews and I recorded as much as I could.
The highlight of this chapter was sharing the recordings with more than 200 students from two schools in Mouanko. Together with Eugene from CWCS, we created a small presentation about migratory birds, field recording and nature. We ended up dancing on the beach with the music created from the birds themselves. Moments like this remind me why I’m doing this journey.
Thank you, as always, for following Music Across Continents. This project exists because people across the world stay curious about nature and because you’re here reading and watching.
If you’d like to help keep the expedition going, you can do so here:
https://ko-fi.com/soundingwild
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Credits & Support
NGO collaborator:
Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society — https://cwcs-cameroon.org
Supported by:
Soundly — https://getsoundly.com
Zoom — https://zoomcorp.com
ZEISS — https://zeiss.com
KEF — https://kef.com
Reynolds Microphones — https://reynoldsmicrophones.com
Kowa — https://kowa.co.jp
NYA-EVO — https://nya-evo.eu
Benro — https://benrocare.com
Saramonic — https://saramonic.com
GadgetBag — https://gadgetbag.com
Tenba — https://tenba.com
Axel and the Sounding Wild team