Geoff Sample on the Pelican

When wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample was a child, a pelican turned up and lived for a few years on the Coquet estuary near his home in Northumberland. This bird became something of a local celebrity but it wasn't until 60 years later when he visited a lake in northern Greece that Geoff saw pelicans in their hundreds in their natural environment for the first time. Living alongside thousands of cormorants and herons on the lake, they produced an atmospheric soundscape alongside fascinating social behaviour.

Producer : Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol
Studio Engineer : Ilse Lademann