From the Stairs Outside Doherty

I sat in a similar location, and was surprised also at how loud the wind became in the final recording, and how muffled the other sounds became because of it. I was sitting farther from the walkway than you were, so I think its interesting that the level at which you held the recorder affected what sounds you picked up, like the footsteps.

Nice analysis! The microphone does sound more sensitive than human ears. When you were recording, there were a lot of things going on so you may not pay attention to all of them. But it is not the case with the microphone, it picks up everything it can "hear". I really like the sound of people walking close and then away, it is very 3 dimensional.