A gloomy daybreak in the cloud sheathed warm temperate rainforest at 800m at Mt Clunie means that the crickets and insects still sing but the Grey Shrike Thrush welcomes the day with some beautiful song phrases. Many of the usual dawn-chorus suspects are sleeping-in hoping the sun will come out after weeks of misty rain and thunderstorms from Cyclone Seth.

Daybreak in the Cloud-forest,  Macpherson Range

echo dirge

A midsummer thunderstorm approaches during the dusk chorus which has transitioned from birdsong to insects, with the pulsating rhythmic cicada song. Heavy rain was to follow and the Nightcap National Park subtropical rainforest became alive with many frog species, including the Mixophyes fasciolatus pictured eating a large spider.

Insect chorus and evening storm: Rocky Creek

Song for the rain bug, or red velvet mite, the largest mite, who comes out when it rains

Music for Bugs

Red velvet mite

God makes no mistakes

Saltmarshe Station

A fragment of early morning chorus at Sawpits Creek in Bowra Sanctuary western Queensland.

Bowra Sanctuary Morning

Predawn is welcomed by Eastern Yellow Robin and Golden Whistler in a stand of Coachwood forest understory within old growth Tallowwoods towering 60m overhead.  The morning bird and insect chorus gradually builds to a complex crescendo which includes many species, among them the Superb Lyrebird, Bassian Thrush, Pouched Frog (Assa darlingtoni), some dingo howls, and some mystery sounds I can't identify! A steady breeze blows high in the canopy and the background thrum of insects reflects the rich biodiversity.

Daybreak In The Coachwood Forest, Nimboi.

Midwinter dawn in cool-temperate rainforest in northern NSW. Melbourne-based jazz bassist Paddy Fitzgerald and a metronomic Brown Cuckoo Dove create a rhythm section for the background of Alberts Lyrebirds, scrub-wrens, Rosellas, fantails and others. (Paddys bass was tuned down to the lowest C1 note so best to listen through headphones which will reproduce 30Hz, or you will not hear most of the bass! )

Brown Cuckoo Dove and Upright Bass Duet

I missed most of this beautiful performance because I wasn't the only person at the hide.  It's difficult to tell everyone to shut up just because you have sound recording gear as they have every right to be there also, but I did manage to get the last of it here. This sort of performance is a treat to hear this late in the summer as spring is long gone so I was particularly happy to hear it and share with you. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Telinga Stereo Mk 3

Gavin Vella

Oystercatcher Performance - MixPre - 2112 01.WAV

Northern Wollemi, Gospers Mountain: 13 months after Australias biggest ever bushfire, when 5 separate blazes merged into one megablaze, the ecosytem is recovering. On the ridges the devastation is still obvious and recovery slower but in the deep gullies and canyons in this sandstone country have survived relatively unburnt. Superb lyrebirds bred this last winter as evidenced by nests on rock ledges and rock wallabies also have endured by sheltering deep in the rainforested canyons. Microbats , owlet nightjar, tawny frogmouth and southern boobook owl are heard and a cuckoo calls plaintively all through the night. Golden Whistlers dominate the busy dawn birdsong but there is a very complex  chorus. Recording begins 60 minutes before first light.

Insect chorus and evening storm: Rocky Creek

Big Scrub Sounds