Every day, during the spring and summer, between 10 and 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from Bracken Cave in Texas. This is the sound they make when they return from a long night of foraging for insects. They dive into the cave in the early morning making a buzzing/whooshing sound with their wings. The sound was recorded on 5/30/21 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University. Critical support and access to the site was provided by Bat Conservation International. The recording was captured in four channels using an ambisonic microphone. Audio file copyright Jeff Rice and the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University, 2021. All rights reserved.

Bats returning to Bracken Cave

The Pando aspen grove in Utah is actually a single tree and is considered to be one of the largest and oldest living organisms on Earth. This recording captures the whispering of Pando's leaves along with an afternoon thunderstorm in July. The recording was made by Jeff Rice with support from the non-profit group Friends of Pando and the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University. The recording is copyright Jeff Rice, 2022. All rights reserved.

Light thunder and rain at the Pando aspen grove in Utah 220712

Coyotes call near their den on the Flying D Ranch in southern Montana. A coyote pup later found the small recorder and played with it and chewed on it over the course of several hours (see the tooth marks in the photo). At the end of this audio file you can hear a coyote crunching on what sounds like a bone as it occasionally nudges the recorder.  This recording was made by Jeff Rice with the permission of the Turner Endangered Species Fund. Special thanks to ranch biologist Val Asher for her assistance and guidance. Use of this audio file is allowed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License; creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/. 

Coyote family

A sandhill crane flies through a meadow in southern Montana. Recorded on July 2nd, 2015 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University: acousticatlas.org. Special thanks to the Turner Endangered Species Fund for providing access to the Flying D Ranch where this recording was made. Thanks also to ranch biologist Val Asher for her generous assistance and guidance. Use of this audio file is allowed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License; creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/. Photo by Steve Emmons of Pacific Southwest Region U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from Sacramento, US (Sandhill Crane  Uploaded by Snowmanradio) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. 

Sandhill crane flyover

The high-pitched call of a Richardson's ground squirrel. Recorded on June 30th, 2015 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University: acousticatlas.org. Special thanks to the Turner Endangered Species Fund for providing access to the Flying D Ranch where this recording was made. Thanks also to ranch biologist Val Asher for her generous assistance and guidance. Use of this audio file is allowed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License; creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/.

Richardson's ground squirrel

A distant wolf calls at dusk in southern Montana. Recorded on June 30th, 2015 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University: acousticatlas.org. Special thanks to the Turner Endangered Species Fund for providing access to the Flying D Ranch where this recording was made. Thanks also to ranch biologist Val Asher for her generous assistance and guidance. Use of this audio file is allowed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License; creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/.
Wolf photo courtesy of National Park Service.

Distant wolf at dusk

Tongue clicks and grunts from a black bear at the National Bison refuge in Montana. Recorded on August 29th, 2015 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University. Photo courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Black bear tongue clicks and grunts

A western meadowlark sings near Ringling, Montana. Recorded on 6/15/16 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University Library: http://acousticatlas.org/. 

Photo: By USFWS Mountain-Prairie (Western Meadowlark) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Western meadowlark

Dupuyer Creek runs through the tiny town of Dupuyer, Montana. It was fictionalized as "English Creek" in Ivan Doig's novel of the same name. The recording was made in the heat of the afternoon on July 3rd, 2016. I was told by town residents to watch out for the grizzly bears that like to nap in the nearby creek bottoms. Recorded by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at the Montana State University Library: http://acousticatlas.org.

Dupuyer Creek

An Olympic Marmot calls along Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park in Washington. Recorded on July 31st, 2016 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University Library: acousticatlas.org.

Olympic Marmot at Hurricane Ridge

Pacific chorus frogs call at a small pond in Issaquah, Washington. Recorded by Jeff Rice on March 13, 2017 for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University: acousticatlas.org. This recording sounds remarkably "dry" (in terms of reverberation) despite the soggy conditions. (Pacific chorus frog photo courtesy of Laurel F: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.)

Pacific chorus frogs in Issaquah, Washington

Boreal chorus frogs call at a small cattle pond near the American Prairie Reserve in Montana. Recorded by Jeff Rice on May 19, 2017 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University Library: acousticatlas.org.

Boreal chorus frogs in Montana 170519

Green toads call on August 1st, 2017 near Trinity Base Camp on the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Recorded at 11:50 PM by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at the Montana State University Library. The image of ranch houses at Trinity Base Camp is copyright Jeff Rice, 2016, 2017 and 2018. All rights reserved. APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION IS UNLIMITED.

Green Toads at White Sands Missile Range 170801

This recording was made at sunrise on June 4th, 2017 in a cottonwood grove in north-central Montana. Recorded by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University: www.acousticatlas.org.

Montana sunrise

Wind blows across the prairie in north-central Montana. Recorded by Jeff Rice on the morning of June 5th, 2017 at the American Prairie Reserve. Audio file copyright Jeff Rice and the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University: www.acousticatlas.org.

Wind at the American Prairie Reserve

This was recorded on August 8th, 2018 during the bison rut at the American Prairie Reserve in Montana. Special thanks to Scott Heidebrink for guiding me to the bison herd. Recorded by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University.

Bison growls

This relatively "quiet" thunderstorm rolled into Utah's Uinta Mountains in late July of 2018. It was recorded by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University: www.acousticatlas.org.

Thunder at Elkhorn Crossing in the Uinta Mountains

A National Park Service remote recorder captures a rare eruption of Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park. Recorded at 9:25 AM on 9/17/18. Steamboat Geyser is the world's tallest active geyser. Eruptions of Steamboat Geyser are unpredictable, but 2018 has seen several eruption events. Primary recordist: Jennifer Jerrett. Secondary recordists: Hosseini, Behnaz; Keller, William. The recording will be available on the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University: www.acousticatlas.org.

Steamboat Geyser at Yellowstone National Park

Woodpeckers drum near the road along Harris Creek in King County, Washington. Recorded at sunrise on Easter Sunday 2020 by Jeff Rice.

Photo by Greg Hume

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