The Woodpeckers Didn't Stop Once — Still Lake, Early Spring Dawn

<p>The woodpeckers started before I'd even finished setting up and they didn't quit the whole morning. Not one gap I can point to. Ducks came and went across the water between the tapping — that was it. No other layer worth naming.

I got to the lake before sunrise, solo. Cold, but clear — no fog on the water by the time the birds got going. Two mics placed off-frame: Zoom F3, Rode NT1, stereo, static position. I brought a book and a sleeping bag and didn't move for hours. That's honestly the whole process for a session like this — you set up, you sit, you don't interfere.

The one imperfect thing: I'd wanted to be in position earlier. I wasn't. The very first light — that ten-minute window before anything calls — I missed it. What's on the recording starts a few minutes into dawn, not at the edge of it. You probably won't notice, but I do.

This one's for the mornings when your head won't stop and you need something that just keeps going at a steady pace. Woodpeckers are good for that. They don't rush</p>