Soundscape

Our personal one here in The Hothouse at the moment is the emerging summer sounds of nightingales, who also sing throughout the daylight hours, the next door's cockerel - clearly not on the correct timer - who calls throughout the late morning, their goat, various parrots, the donkey-birds (see post last summer, swallows and various chorusing frogs.
This small green one, hidden in the pampas grass was making an electronic beeping noise. It emerged onto the terrace - much to the cat's interest, and I picked it up to have a closer look.
Isn't nature a totally incredible thing? That colour, the eyes, the toes. It just sat there calmly while we stared at it, amazed that such a tropical-looking creature had appeared in our European garden.

Around-sounds

Some favourite sounds: Clatter of flags on yacht masts, ice cream van jingles, seagulls, wheezing summer swallows, the wind in pine trees, the kettle boiling, grandfather clocks, church bells, rustle of fruit being put into paper bags, the dawn chorus, waves on shingle and somewhere at the top of the list: goats and sheep (voices and bells.)

Here is a little film (sorry for dubious quality) I took a few days ago, of a mixed herd of goats and sheep being let onto new pasture somewhere in the hills above Alet-Les Bains, near Limoux.