27 species of birds and five species of mammals appear on this 21 track collection of field recordings from the Falkland Islands. Recorded by Ian J Strange between 1968 and 1979, this disc offers a rich portrait of the wildlife that he encountered at that time. 400 km off the Argentine coast, The Falklands comprises of two large islands and 200 small islands with a population of about 2,000 people. What’s interesting about this disc is that it was finalised just three years before the war between Argentina and Britain over sovereignty. So one wonders how much of this fauna remained. As per usual with the Saydisc recordings there is virtually no contextual information in terms of the recording techniques, about Mr Strange, or even the island itself. Rather the liner notes are confined to general information about each particular species. We have petrels, ducks, buzzards, penguins, thrush, owls, shearwaters, sea lions, fur seals and all manner of wonderful creatures. The Guanaco is a South American species belonging to the camel family and it’s wheezy call to its herd here sounds like it’s giggling mischievously to itself, whilst the guzzling and belching of the Sea Lion sounds scarily human. The Black Browned Albatross has a remarkable call, like a Kookaburra with a cold crossed with a buzz saw, and the recording here, made during courtship is extremely close mic’d. In fact all the recordings here are clear and focussed, most at two minutes or under, some with extraneous beach sounds and the distant calls of other birds.
Bob Baker Fish
