Listening Landscapes is a series of site specific audio journeys delving into ambient sounds, narrated observations, microscopic noises, local folklore, and poetic words arising from a range of unique locations in the county of Dorset.

This episode of Listening Landscape – the first in a seasonal series – comes from the Kingcombe Meadows National Nature Reserve, managed by Dorset Wildlife Trust. It’s a wild haven and a floral heaven, and now, at Midsummer, the meadows are at their peak of perfection. The warm air is still and humid, but brimming with colourful sights, fragrant scents and a gentle symphony of sounds…

We drift down through the flower-folded meadow
Amongst a flotilla of brown-sailed butterflies.
Golden sunlight crowns the Royal Oaks in the hedgerows
And kisses the tops of feather-crested grasses…

We listen to the hum and chirrup of the multitudinous insect-life found within these meadows, alongside the languid lowing of cattle. Song thrushes repeat favourite phrases from their tree-top singing posts, as the river Hooke, with fluid melody, weaves its own song of water, weed and stones. At night, tawny owls call to each other; haunting sounds in the intensifying darkness…

Listening Landscapes has been created by Ezra Gray & Martin Maudsley with support from  Dorset National Landscape & Common Ground.