Recorded under cliffs in Alps - no wind was that night so there was almost complete silence . 
Owls and later falling rocks from cliffs which was maybe trigger by some animal walking high above microphones.
Edited with EQ 
Microphones ORTF Mkh40 Sennheiser
Recorder Zoom F6
Slovenia Alps
10192025

Autumn Night Under Slovenian Alps – Owls and Falling Rocks from Cliffs

One of many recordings on my “Heidelberg sound map.” Please feel invited to visit the entire soundmap: https://heidelberg-hoeren.de/soundmap

I deeply love to record and to listen. My everyday life is filled with urban sounds and noise. So I always wait impatiently for opportunities to get away from man-made sounds and to deeply listen to and record nature. But these opportunities are far to rare. So I asked myself: why not record the sounds that I encounter in my every day life and make a soundmap of my home town Heidelberg? It took me nearly two years until the site was ready to go online, but it was great fun and trained my listening a lot. 


Heidelberg sound map teaser: Swan geese and Egyptian geese on the banks of the Neckar River

This year's best of is divided in two parts: forest and lake/wetland! In this recording you will hear in turn:

APRIL
Slavonian Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Lapwing
MAY
Sedge Warbler
Whooper Swan
Penduline Tit
JUNE
Bittern
Great Reed Warbler
Curlew
Fire-bellied Toad
JULY
Starlings murmuration

All recordings except the Fire-bellied Toads from the county of Uppland with varying recording techniques.

Best of 2025 wetland and lake

Dawn in bushland near the inland edge of the Kurangk/Coorong lagoon. On the far side of the lagoon, towering dunes half-draped with tough green bushes seclude and protect the lagoon from the ever-audible roaring ocean. Skimming above the ocean, a storm intermittently spears the waves with lightning, and rolls its thunder inland, towards the dawning bushland.

Recorded respectfully in the country of the Ngarrindjeri peoples (and, specifically, the land of the Lungundi and the Kaikalabindjeri clans).

2025.12.06 Dawn Chorus with Thunder. Kurangk/Coorong. Early Summer.

In der ersten Folge unseres mehrteiligen Podcast-Specials zum Jahreswechsel lädt Sie Musikpsychotherapeutin Martina Baumann ein, das Jahr achtsam und entspannt ausklingen zu lassen.

Mit den sanften Klängen von Ngoni und Monochord entsteht ein musikalisch-meditativer Raum für Ihre Gedanken, Gefühle und Imaginationen. Diese Podcast-Folge kommt ganz ohne Worte aus und kann im Sitzen, Liegen oder in Bewegung angehört werden – ganz so, wie es für Sie angenehm und stimmig ist.

Wir wünschen Ihnen eine wohltuende und bereichernde Erfahrung. Eine Aufzeichnung vom 21. Oktober 2025.

Weitere Informationen zur sysTelios Klinik finden Sie auf www.sysTelios.de

Wohlklang – ein musikalisch-meditativer Jahresausklang mit Martina Baumann

The swampy areas of the Altantic Forest are called "paludosas". They are permanently soaked (hydromorphic) and have adapted vegetation such as epiphytes and palm trees.
Despite having less biodiversity than other biomes of the Atlantic Forest, it hosts rare and highly endangered anuran species and is very important for birds. 
Here in Itati, in Rio Grande do Sul, it is located not far from the ocean and close to the River Três Forquilhas.

This is my first recording there: a good perspective on the running water, at low levels, while cicadas stridulate loudly in the trees above and around. It's a quiet hour, there is only heat (and mosquitoes which feasted on my blood). 
While recording and monitoring, I noticed myself sitting almost in a prayer position, which I found both amusing but also profoundly significant: how the exercise or the act of only listening to a natural space can bring such reverence to one's mind and body.

This recording was made in REBIO da Mata Paludosa  (Biologic Reserve).

Many thanks to Augusto Bobsin, Cardoso and João Manuel Trindade for facilitating access, for their patience and curiosity, and to Tuani Mazzotti for everything.

Mata Atlântica Paludosa RS - Shallow Water Running in the Swampy Atlantic Forest

6 - C. e. hippelaphus - Dark Forest

Part of a nocturnal recording, with different rhythms of rain through the night. An attentive listen will reveal when distinct species start and cease to sing. 

Rain intensifies over frogs and insects in a marsh of the Atlantic Forest, RS, Brazil

Shortly after 2am, between rain showers, the night insects slowly emerge in the sound tapestry.

The rain softens as the night establishes itself - Atlantic Forest, RS, Brazil

A secondary forest, with a view to a cloud forest, by a lake surrounded by a handful of smaller ponds.
Guava fruits dunks in the water and fish make heavy snaps. Besides the cane toads, some other tree frogs present themselves to the night, alongside with ear-piercing insects' sounds. Not very different from the cane toad but a larger and with rhythm variation call is the bamboo rat. It's heard towards the end of the recording.
In the lake, the orange eye of a capybara emerges, but no sound. The vegetation behind us is in constant motion.
This is my first recording in Manu National Park.


Andean Amazon Dusk by Ponds

My first long recording in this location was more of a test rather than an attempt for a finite result. Although issues that often occur in very quiet places, such as high noise floor, practically don't exist in a densely populated area, there are so many sources and different sounds that aesthetic options can take time on the field to take. Here at Manu National Park the numbers are close to the following: 222 species of mammals, 99 species of reptiles, 140 species of amphibians, 1000 species of birds, 210 species of fish, 130 species of butterflies, 136 species of dragonflies and 650 species of beetles. It's important to say, especially regarding insects, that there are numerous species that are undescribed and even bird identification tools like Merlin only "know" about 65% of birds in the region. 
It's the rainy season and the air is dense and thick having reached 94% of humidity level in the same day the recordings happened.
Animals are everywhere and at this time of the day - shortly before 6am when it's still dark - they surround the area. 
This is at 539m altitude, very close to the cloud forest, and nearing the low-land forest.

The bird species we could identify so far in this recording are: Cinerous Tinamou, Little Tinamou, Black-face Anttrush, Hoatzin (the scary "breathy" sounds), Hauxwell's Thrush and Russet-backed Oropendola. The constant medium-high pitch sound belongs to the dart poison frog.

Thanks to the team who, with their knowledge and interest, helped with identification. 

Heidelberg sound map teaser: Swan geese and Egyptian geese on the banks of the Neckar River

AudioFokus - Axel Mecke

Related tracks