Field Notes
Morning cloud cover shrouds the bay (it reminds me of home). The seasons are starting to change now after a very mild autumn.
Rodd Point is situated in an inlet from the main channel of the Parramatta river, known as Iron Cove, which is framed by suburbs, mudflats & mangroves, a popular walking track and a highway.
It is low tide.
The boundary between Wangal & Cadigal country lies south along the Hawthorne Canal; one of the many tributaries of the Parramatta River that now operates as a stormwater channel.
The sound of traffic noise dominates, reflecting across the water from the A4 highway, interspersed with the cries of gulls & pied cormorants. I record a few open field ambiances with my condenser mics; the lapping of the water, hum of the highway, and intermittent calls of the bird life intermingling.
The occasional plane passes overhead; we are under one of the flight paths into Sydney airport. I fail to catch them in my recordings… next time.
As I am recording by the shoreline I notice a popping & crackling sound coming from the intertidal zone. I assume it is some kind of marine mollusk?
I record the popping sound with Andrew’s hydrophone; the crackles & pops of unidentified marine life, transduced through the distinct frequency range of a cheap piezoelectric device.
I take a closer look at the mangroves to the south-west of the point; there is a concentration of bird life there, fossicking around in the mudflats. The battery in my recording device duly runs out (drained by providing phantom power to the shotgun mic).
Get a battery for the shotgun mic for the next outing.
