Rare Thrills

This week, follow Seán on a heartfelt journey to track the ring ouzel, from the high slopes of Catalonia to the windswept hills of Donegal to record Ireland’s last known breeding pair. Along the way, he reflects on nocturnal migration, the heavy emotional reality of recording a species on the brink of extinction, and how facing this loss can inspire hope and action for our wild spaces. This is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take another journey through the agricultural fields in Barcelona accompanied with sounds from four-foot ladder snakes, praying mantis and much more. Along the way, Seán reflects on the stark contrast between Barcelona's urban sprawl and the wildlife that clings on beside it, the challenges of ADHD and admin, why even mosquitoes and feral pigeons deserve their place, and the thrill of intercepting birds on their journey to Africa. This is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seán returns with a late October walkabout at Knockadoon, East Cork, in search of rare autumn migrants. Take an audible adventure through this peninsula and discover why it's a magnet for visiting birds, encounters redshanks, pipits, greenfinches, and fox moth caterpillars along the shore, and shares remarkable news of recording two red-throated pipits a species that turns up in Ireland roughly once every two years, just 12 days apart at the same site! This is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Seán records through the night at Ballynamona Strand in East Cork, capturing golden plover wing beats overhead, a bat buzzing past his microphone, and the underwater sounds of fish and prawns beneath Ballycotton Pier.Interwoven with field recordings of bar-tailed godwits, curlew, oystercatchers, and a lesser yellowlegs, Seán reflects on autumn migration, the devastating decline of curlew in Ireland, the impact of off-lead dogs on wading birds, and a spooky encounter at a nighttime rewilding site!This is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Seán recalls his beginnings and how a Catalan woman walked into a Cork city bar and changed the trajectory of his life forever.Interwoven with more sound recordings, Seán details his move to Catalonia, including encounters with roe deer, flamingos recorded over Barcelona's skyscrapers, screaming neighbours and amateur trumpetersThis is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a celebration of autumn bird migration — the great movements of birds that arrive on Irish shores each year from Scandinavia, Siberia, and beyond. With field recordings of yellow-browed warblers, redwings, fieldfares, ring ouzels, and mixed flocks of chaffinches, goldfinches, bramblings, redpolls and siskins visibly migrating over East Cork. Plus the nasal calls of bramblings arriving off the sea in West Cork, the high-pitched trill of waxwings, the roding displays of woodcock, short-eared owls calling after their sea crossing, and the distinctive chuwit of a spotted redshank in Ballycotton. As mentioned in the episode, please check out the "YouTube of Birdsong" website https://xeno-canto.org/ This is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Originally recorded Summer 2026 This very special episode is an immersive field audio essay, recorded live in two of Sean's favourite local spots in East Cork — a rewilding quarry he has known since childhood and the Knockadoon peninsula. With on-site recordings of sand martins, stock doves, blackcaps, chiffchaffs and swallows, a remarkable discovery of breeding tufted ducks, the tumbling displays of rock and meadow pipits, herring gulls overhead, by-the-wind sailors washed ashore, and the tell-tale droppings of coastal otters. The episode ends with the sound of waves on a rocky shoreline — a moment to simply listen. This is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Originally recorded June 2026 This episode of The Sean Chorus podcast is an immersive celebration of the sounds of the Irish summer, from birdsong and buzzing insects to coastal wildlife. With more recordings from Ireland and beyond, including owls, wrens, golden orioles, guillemots, a minke whale and the rare Roussel’s bush cricket, as well as the often-maligned ragwort and the wildlife it supports. The episode ends with a mystery sound for listeners to identify! This is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of The Sean Chorus podcast is Sean Ronayne's personal tribute to his friend and mentor Manchán Magan, the acclaimed Irish author and broadcaster who died last October at age 55. Sean traveled to the Hill of Uisneach, the ancient mythological "navel of Ireland" - where Manchán's ashes were scattered. He spent a night recording birdsong and folklore-rich wildlife (blackbirds, chaffinches, willow warblers, a skylark, and a snipe flying overhead unexpectedly), weaving each into Irish mythology and memories of Manchán. This is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Seán Chorus, Seán Ronayne provides a small update along with more sounds and moments that have made his new home feel familiar.From the call of the curlew echoing through the balcony door, to capturing the hum of bees and grasshoppers in a wildflower meadow, Seán reflects on more memories and his connection to the natural world. Explore the return of Mediterranean gulls to Cork Harbour, and even a mystery sound challenge, in this latest episode.This is a HeadStuff podcast produced by Hilary Barry and Dan Wilcox. Original artwork is by Matt Mahon.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices