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Ile aux lièvres, Quebec • Canada
The myNoise Sampling Sessions' Photo Album
Another trip to Quebec, but this one was special: my daughter Célia graduated from the university of Montreal! This visit gave me a nice opportunity to pick up my field recorders and head towards an amazing recording location suggested by Denis, a fan of this website who lives in Quebec. The Ile aux lièvres located in middle the St. Lawrence estuary, marks my first sampling session following the health challenges I confronted earlier this year. On a personal level, being back on my feet and in nature felt wonderful.

Discover these sounds in Estuary Island.

L-île-aux-lièvres, Quebec • Canada • Summer 2023

Landed in Montreal, where I finished the urban recordings I started last time.
En route towards Ile aux Lièvres, in the heart of the Saint-Laurent estuary.
You're at Ile aux Lièvres, a designated biodiversity reserve since 2013.
The canopy is mainly dominated by poplars: balsam, trembling aspen and birches.
A big part of sampling is just listening...
The landscapes were very serene, and so where the sounds.
myNoise's challenge is to capture nature sounds in isolation. Getting waves was easy, avoiding them was not :D
The sound of an estuary is distinctively quieter than rivers and oceans.
The weather and slight wind made for perfect recording conditions.
With low tide, I get new lands and new sounds to record.
By summer's end, many birds left but cormorants, sandpipers, and seagulls still got recorded.
Inside the island, a dense canopy awaits.
Insects outbreaks have shaped this landscape.
And so did storms, earlier this year.
Some spots looked like a fairy tale, here with the water's reflection.
Recording in progress. The wind through aspen and birch trees sounds magical too.
After earlier setbacks, resuming myNoise sampling was great, even if hiking was limited.
When capturing quiet sounds - here the river from a distance - I always stay away from my microphones to avoid interfering.
The sandpipers spot. They will arrive as soon as I will leave the recorder unattended.
Such a small island had a surprising variety of landscapes.
Coming up, a series of panoramas to spotlight the beauty of the island.
The east end.
The center
The peak, 86m above sea level. Balsam trees were covered by dense lichens.
The west coast.
And the best for last: my amazing wife Charlotte, and photographer for this trip.

Thank you!

Sampling sessions abroad are only possible because of the generosity of the people making donations to this website. May those contributors be assured of my deepest gratitude! If you would like to foster the recording of new sounds, please support or keep supporting my work. Stéphane