In June, 2018, I recorded and photographed several species of egret and heron chicks at Ten Shrine in Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
My little recorder captured the whole sonic environment, noise and all, with small omnidirectional mics that I attached to my backpack in order to create a quasi-binaural soundscape.
Low-frequency traffic noise was pretty loud, even on a Sunday afternoon. We can hear the birds more clearly by adding a high-pass filter, for example, a -6dB roll-off beginning at 880Hz.
Unfortunately, such manipulation distorts reality. It may sound better to most people, but it is no longer an authentic field recording.
Bird nests filled the trees surrounding this shrine, especially along a road near the entrance, as we can see on the radio aporee map for this location.
Fortunately, we had blue skies on several days during Rainy Season in June.
Many young birds were in the trees, calling and competing with siblings.
Species included birds I rarely see, such as black-crowned night herons.
Cattle egrets stayed close to tree trunks but sometimes showed themselves.
Birds in flight included adults bringing food and youngsters testing their wings.
I talked with several people who live near the shrine. They have to put up with a lot of noise and bird droppings that have increased in recent years as wildlife habitats are destroyed. Nearly all the trees that once lined the nearby Yasugawa riverbank have been bulldozed, leaving only low bushes, weeds, and a few recreational facilities. Many of the remaining trees for colonies of these beautiful birds are in sacred groves at rural shrines.