7/18/21 PM mid-60's Alameda County, CA
Repeated, fast tapping noises low to the ground, after dark while using a UV flashlight. I've heard this before but the animal stays hidden in the brush. I saw one brief glimpse of white eyeshine about .5" from ~15' away. It may be Neotoma fuscipes.


20210718 224951 2255GZCtappingEdit2m

Unidentified animal percussive noises in the woods

7/27/2021 00:01 PDT Alameda County, CA

Short trills by a different tree cricket from the constant O. rileyi. 64F on the porch thermometer, cricket in the Quercus agrifolia.
GE to lower frequencies to decrease vehicle noise.


LS101795 2107242337OecanthusEdit

Oecanthus trills with O. rileyi background

9/30/2021 21:50 PDT Contra Costa County CA

Coyotes barking and yelping for the better part of an hour.

GE to decrease some background noises

LS101819 2109302150SGCoyotes

Coyotes

2022/02/13 16:27 Alameda County, CA

A Pseudacris sierra frog has been in the back yard since 2021/11/09, the first time since 1998 when I moved here. 
There is a small creek behind the perpendicular street which is down the hill, not quite .25 miles in a straight line. The closest place at which I've heard and seen these is between .25-.5 miles depending on which part of the park.

LS101845 2202131627STFRHomeEdit

Pseudacris sierra in suburban back yard

2022/02/13 20:41 PT 
Don Castro RRA, Alameda County, CA

94% moon, local temp ~60F under trees in this spot, cooler elsewhere in the park

Pseudacris sierra very loud chorus



LS101848 220213STFRDCedit

Sierran Treefrogs, Pseudacris sierra very loud chorus

10/22/2022 18:54 PDT 
Monte Bello OSP, Santa Clara County, CA

Three calls, at about :10, 1:20, 2:30

In woods, almost dark, probably mid-50sF temperature. This is a call that I've not heard here.
While we sat in the open nearby, a Western Screech-Owl was heard by one from a different direction. Northern Saw-whet Owl have also been heard here in the open but not that night, as well as Great Horned Owl. 

The calls were stationary and repeated with about 1:05 minutes between.
Recorded with a Pixel 6, edited to increase the amplitude of the call and decrease the noise around the call from that processing. The recording app that I used in the previous phone didn't work on this one, and the new app didn't capture this very well and doesn't give a visual of what it's recording like the old one.  I didn't have my handheld recorder handy.

20221022 185432251MBedit2

Mystery bird call

12/30/2022 around 19:00 PST. Alameda County, CA

While in the kitchen, I heard heard screams not unlike a guinea pig, but not a happy noise. The animal was not constantly making noise, there was silence in between. 
There wasn't enough light from the motion light to see most of the yard, so I had to find my flashlight. By the time I got back out there, I could only see somewhat dim orangish eye shine. 

The occasional screams went up a large Podocarpus tree, and I couldn't see where the animal was because of the thick branches and leaves. I heard a couple of snarls. I went back in to find my thermal camera, and found a hot spot in the tree. It took me a while to see the animal, which had its back turned, sitting on a branch. It had a bushy tail, which it then moved so I could see rings. Otherwise, it just looked kind of tawny (I was juggling three devices, and couldn't easily reach the light level button of the flashlight). Then it turned to look down, and I saw it was a very large raccoon. I couldn't see what it had.

This is the last gasp of the screamer, which happened before I found the raccoon in the tree, but came from the tree.

LS101904 2212301900.WAV

Mammal scream

Vargas Plateau RP, Alameda County, CA 3/18/2023 19:12 PDT

Previous overnight rain, overcast and humid. ~56F at 19:00
Calling from a wet area. Pseudacris sierra and Sialia mexicana (Western Bluebird) can be heard in the background.


LS101913 2303181912VPe2 CAToads

Anaxyrus boreas (California Toad)

saxxmas.mp3

6/7/2024 Santa Clara County, CA
No moon; 55-60F

Calls beginning around sunset/twilight and continuing at least to 22:00, with 1:05 minutes in between.
Great Horned Owl in the distance, along with one mammalish-sounding call.

Olympus LS-10, graphical equalizer used to reduce background noise and slightly boost the calls.

The same exact calls were first heard on 10/22/2022, but a bit farther away (~.2 miles through trees) and I had to use my phone to record it. We may have been hearing it from the location where we heard it this time, as it was in the same direction.

Both times it was given by one individual, apparently calling from the trees.



LS101994_2406072127_MBCall_edit

Mystery bird calls at night

6/9/15, 9:09 PM PDT Monte Bello OSP, Santa Clara County, CA. These soft dry "trills" came from various locations along this trail bank. Several camel crickets (Raphidophoridae) appeared from under the duff, then went back under. There are katydids in the background. I reduced those and boosted the apparent camel crickets a little and edited out some noise. I had to use my Panasonic Lumix LX100 to record the sound.

Update October 2022: In correspondence with an Ensifera researcher on ResearchGate, this is probably drumming. I have still have not had a repeat of this observation anywhere, and would need to see them in action.


LS101407_1805282105MB

150609 MBCamelCrickets

8/27/17 20:26, sunset 19:44PDT. Oecanthus rileyi (~76F), plus one O. fultoni (~73F)?
Temperature 75.6F at PWS KCAHAYWA49. Alameda Co., CA, USA

Tree crickets, Oecanthus sp.

Picchetti Ranch OSP Western Screech Owl barking, 8/29/09

LS100395 PRWESO Western Screech-owl

Picchetti Ranch, 9/4/09 8:35 PM unknown sound, repeated several times during several sentences.

LS100400 PR Unidentified sound--deer snort

6/28/13 10:30 p.m., Edgewood CP. An adult was observed climbing on a lanky shrub, and this sound was apparently coming from the ground in front of us. This may have been from babies stashed by a mom while she tends to business.
Maybe ten minutes later, some drumming came from up the trail. Woodrats do that too.

moonlittrails

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