Field notes
Guides for recording in the wild.
Practical writing on choosing equipment, planning schedules and getting usable sound, whether or not you use our recorder.
How to choose a wildlife audio recorder
Sample rates, microphones, power, enclosures, and the costs that don’t show up on the price tag: batteries, cards, site visits and software.
Read the guidePlanning a dawn chorus schedule
When to record, for how long, and how to stretch batteries and cards across a breeding season.
ReadAudible or ultrasonic?
What you can and can’t capture at different sample rates, and when a bat recorder is worth it.
ReadWhy microphones fade, and how to test yours
Small sensitivity losses shrink the area a recorder covers. A simple check before each season.
ReadKeeping recorders dry
Condensation, seals, desiccant and mounting angle: what ends deployments early and how to avoid it.
ReadThe real cost of a recorder survey
Units, cases, cards, batteries, analysis software and the site visits that usually cost the most.
ReadBuying SD cards for long deployments
Capacity, speed classes, counterfeits and how to check a card before it spends a season in a tree.
ReadField notes by email
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