 In total I made a 40 minute recording of which this is about 7:15 of the best part. Made using a Sound Devices 702 and two Audio Technica AT3032 mics in a binaural arrangement.


Thunderstorm rolls through Red Deer, Alberta

A pair of Western Screech Owls call together against a backdrop of calling insects and a small stream.  Recorded in Chiricahua National Monument, October 2014.

Owls and calling insects - Chiricahua NM 141024

Late summer evening on the Carson River, near Carson City, Nevada.  Canada geese and ducks flyover, beaver play in the water, and a variety of insects call.  Recorded on September 9, 2015, using dual EM-172 capsules in a parabolic dish into a Sony PCM-M10.

Nightfall on the Carson River

Crickets chorus and Western Screech owls call on a quiet evening at Beaver Dam State Park in eastern Nevada.  Recorded on September 22, 2015, using a Sony PCM-M10 and Primo EM-172 capsules in spaced array.

Crickets and owls - Beaver Dam State Park

A second evening recording in Happy Valley, east of Tucson, Arizona.  This time the insects were much louder, drowning out the owls and poorwills.  Recorded on June 7, 2016.

160607_001

Happy Valley Night 2_insects

A huge wildfire swept through the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona in 2011.  The land is recovering, but the forest may never be the same.  This recording was made at the Rustler's Park campground near the top of the mountains, on June 14, 2016.  You can hear the breeze in the pines (a few survived the fire) and crickets and whippoorwills.  Recorded with a Sony PCM-D100 and Primo EM-172 capsules in a DIY SASS array.

Chiricahua night_160614

ABUNDANT LIFE: Birds singing in hardwood forest at6:30am, 21 May 2016. Recorded at Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area near Ithaca, New York. © Lang Elliott. Please play at a low volume to simulate a natural listening experience.

Microphone: quasi-binaural SASS (Stereo Ambient Sampling System) modified for use with Sennheisser MKH20 mics.

THERE IS NO END to bad news when it comes to birds. Recent studies show significant decreases in the populations of a number of our neotropical migrants, a major cause being the loss of habitat on their wintering grounds. And then there’s the predicted negative effects of climate change. So much bad news, almost each and every day!

While I certainly do not deny that there is trouble brewing and that we should do something about it, my purpose is not to wave the red flag of impending doom. Rather, my mission is to celebrate that which is good and present in our lives right now. And this morning’s recording does just that! I’ve christened it Abundant Life due to its rich variety of bird sounds. Close your eyes and listen. How many species can you identify?

"Only birds sing the music of heaven in this world."
 – haiku by Kobayashi Issa

I obtained this recording purely by chance. I had just picked up my soundscape microphone (which I’d left next to a beaver pond at 4:30am) and was heading back to my car. While walking along the trail through hardwood forest, I heard the plaintive whistle of a wood-pewee – pee-a-wee – and stopped to enjoy it. That’s when I became aware of all the other bird sounds in the air.

Excited by what I was hearing, I quickly set up my mic and hit record. I was able to get about twelve minutes of the mix before a jet thundered over at low altitude, followed a truck rumbling down a nearby road. By the time the noise subsided, a number of the birds had moved farther away, so I didn’t resume my recording.
I am very happy with nature’s gift of the day. As you can hear, there are quite a number of singers, including the following:

Eastern Wood-Pewee
Wood Thrush
Mourning Dove
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Red-eyed Vireo
Ovenbird
American Crow
Common Raven
Common Grackle
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (one call and drums)
+ several other species singing more softly in the background

No, I wouldn’t classify this as a meditative zen-style recording. But I do consider it an exceptional “celebration of abundance,” of the rich variety of birds that live in our natural surroundings. I am so very grateful to witness this abundance almost daily during the spring and early summer breeding season. How pleasurable to hear so many voices all in one place … my beloved avian musicians singing their joy into the world.

no album

Abundant Life

Brutal Baltic - 7/1/2017 - Tahkoluoto Port

Call of the Mystic

Zensual

Kubah's forests are pulsing with life, and the soundscapes that can be heard in this national Park are among the most incredible I have ever experienced. This recording features the incredibly powerful sounds of Empress cicadas, along with the melodic song of the White-rumped Shama, and the rhythmic ' te-hoop 'calls of Golden-whiskered Barbets.

This sample is an excerpt of the track "Dusk Rhythms" from the album Rhythm of Kubah - https://wildambience.com/albums/rhythm-of-kubah/

Thunderstorm rolls through Red Deer, Alberta

Collin J Örthner