I was cycling in the Vienne department of France some days ago and stopped to drink some water. I heard strange sounds above me and looked up. I saw maybe eighty cranes flying at around 100 meters height in a V-formation North-East. A short while later another two formations followed. It was a magnificent sight. The birds constantly 'talking' to each other. I interpreted it as mutually reassuring sounds: we are flying toward our summer breeding places, everything is fine. Last November I saw the cranes flying South-West to their winter refuges (in Central and Southern France).

Restabal (30 min south of Granada, Spain)

The arid, dry landscape of Southern Spain is silent. No birds or insects. Any sound you can hear is distinct: a farmer hacking old olive tree wood; a single car driving by; a jogger's shoes on dry gravel long before I see her; a fly passing my head. I can see far with grand views accross the Valle de Lecrin - sunshine and silence. On the surrounding mountain tops across the valley gigantic windmill wheels are leisurely turning in silence.
A few days later an Irish priest tells me that the silence in his old house after he used to finish work in his school felt oppressive. We experience different silences differently. For example you don't hear your nervous system hissing in a quiet environment, but you can perceive it contrary to what John Cage claimed after his visit to an anechoic chamber: he said he heard two sounds, a high one, his nervous system, and a low one, his blood circulating in his body.
On another day during a walk in the olive and orange groves: in the distance a dork is barking. A plane is scraping by in the morning haze. I hear it before I look up. Somewhere on the opposite side of the valley a beeping sound, electronic, regular for a few moments - probably a lorry or tractor reversing. Passing an other orange grove I can hear trickling water irrigating the trees.

I am reading a book. A man sitting across the aisle starts a conversation on his mobile listening with an earphone. The irregular rhythm of his answers to the inaudible conversation partner interrupts my reading.
Earlier a few rows further down I could hear a smartphone with loudspeakers on.
This reminded me of a situation during a train journey: a young woman (18 or so) was listening to music on her phone without headphones. Just when I was complaining to her asking to put on headphones the conductor made an announcement over the PA. In a rough, provocative tone she dismissed my complaint saying: what is the difference between my music and the conductor speaking through the train loudspeakers?