Fifth year in a row on different Capercaillie leks. This year started out slowly at 04.10 AM and about 5 males were displaying without much enthusiam until 07.30 when four females arrived. All of a sudden I had 15 males in front of the hide! Where did they come from. Wonderful recordings of the (almost) infrasound (32 Hz) when the males go "blind". If you listen carefully you will also hear mating of Pygmy Owl and hear when the Capercaillie males go quiet when a Goshawk calls in the distance.

Uppland. April 17, 2025.
Zoom F3 + AudioTechnica BP4025

Capercaillie lek with infrasound

Short and Sweet: A challenge to our government and our politicians--all of them--to do their jobs. In good conscience, I can't NOT post this audio essay.

Episode 287-When in the Course of Human Events

Tawny owls' midnight calls at the hidden disappearing lake valley, surrounded by deep forests.

Midnight Spooky Owls - Cerknica Lake, Slovenia 19.8.2025

A group of emus vocalising in the predawn darkness, with booming drumbeats from their throat pouches. A Warrumbungles woodland dawn chorus ensues gradually with many species including kookaburras, honeyeaters, magpies and more...

EmuDawn2

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AMB91 Redwoods: Active Nature

A rich morning soundscape recorded on the banks of the Cuyabeno River deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Features the magical sounds of Russet-backed Oropendolas.

The Amazon: Oropendola Morning - Album Sample

The Amazon: Cuyabeno Night - Album Sample

Wicked Owls - Midnight Primeval Beech Forest, Slovenia October 4. 2025

Late autumn at the Adishi glacier.

Capturing the clean and quality sound of the glacier presents its unique challenges to overcome. One is the logistics and fitness of even reaching such a place, as they are mostly in high, remote mountains. Another is reaching the suitable area of the glacier, which is huge and presents a very demanding terrain that takes you time and energy to get to. Most easy access is at the front of it, the tounge where the ice ends, yet that is where the water comes running out of under the glacier. So in order to avoid the noise of the rushing water, I needed to reach a more upper stage of it, by following it along the edge. That presents another difficulty as the edges of a mountain are "eaten" by the glacier therefor they are completely crumbling and unstable with a high chance of collapse. You can hear stones falling down continuously. When finally reaching this narrow edge, I managed to come closer to the heart of this ice monster. This is where I was able to capture the ice avalanches and rock falls from much closer and farther away from the noise of the river. You can feel the vibrations and low rumble frequencies. Standing so close to it and witnessing its process is very different from anything else; it somehow feels like something extraterrestrial, something we are never used to witnessing in our lives. Yet it is a whole complex system by itself, existing there, doing its thing, basically just water.

Adishi Glacier / Avalanche - Georgia, Caucasus 2500m

A compilation of Sika deer tri-whistle calls, recorded in County Leitrim during the rutting season (September to November). These were recorded using unattended AudioMoths, hence the distant and quite noisy quality. Worth noting that despite its name, the last example is composed of 4 calls, then again the call is shorter/faster than the 'proper' tri-whistles.

"Sika deer originate from Japan, These were introduced by Lord Powerscourt in 1860. A few years later some were moved from Powerscourt (Co. Wicklow) to enclosed parks in Fermanagh, Kerry, Limerick, Down and Monaghan. The present wild deer herds mostly originated as escapees from these parks in the early 20th century." (Irish Deer Commission, 2022)

Species: Sika deer (Cervus nippon)
Date and time of recording: 6 October 2021, 4pm
Location: County Leitrim, Ireland
Habitat: Forestry plantation
Gear: Open Acoustic Devices AudioMoth mixed with Sennheiser Mid-Side setup for background ambience
Picture: Ashtonpfaffen (Wikimedia Commons CC3.0)

Recorded for the Arney Aquatic Acoustics EU Interreg project.

Sika Deer Tri-Whistle (Medley)

A late morning recording in a grove of ponderosa pine.  The wind roars through the pines, then drops down and tickles the aspen, while a few birds sing along.  Best with headphones.

180707_0956

Wind in the trees 180707

Nature recordings, primarily from the western United States.  For the stories behind my recordings, visit my blog: www.wildmountainechoes.com.

Wind in the trees 180707

Wild Mountain Echoes