Surf Sounds
Recorded at Mattole Beach on the Lost Coast of Northern California.
Microphones: AT3032(x2), head spaced and baffled similar to a Jecklin Disk.


Download option is MP3 320 kbps.

Surf at Mattole Beach, Northern California, 2010

Recorded October 11, 2013 during the Rattlesnake Canyon Back Country Fence Pull with the Oregon Natural Desert Association. Late at night while tent camping a couple of the volunteers heard what they described as a "tree-roosting hyena."

Luckily that night my recording gear caught these sounds from up a hill maybe a third of a mile away.  It sounds to me like a western screech owl - especially the more classic trill call near the end.

This recording was greatly amplified to make the subject sounds audible.  While listening, consider this area was quiet enough I could not hear any ambient background to my naked ear. 

Microphones: two AT3032 spaced about 8 inches, strapped to the trunk of a burnt juniper snag. 
Recorder: Sound Devices 702
Temperature: probably about 38 F. 
Cloud cover: partly cloudy.
Wind: calm  < 3mph
Moon: first quarter

Download as MP3 320 kbps.

Western Screech Owl, 2013-10-11, John Day Basin

A recording from a peace march in Portland in 2003. 
In this clip a musical ensemble marches by while playing When The Saints Go Marching In.

2003-03-15 peace saints

Enjoy this 1 minute excerpt from the 48 minute track: Cliffs Sing of Coyotes
Play or download the full length version at:
http://oregonsoundscapes.com/track/cliffs-sing-of-coyotes

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Cliffs Sing of Coyotes
Poorwills and Owls at Dawn
Basalt Escarpment and Sagebrush Steppe
September 08, 2013 5:09 am
Lake County, Oregon

Recording and album art by John Hartog.

Track Length: ~ 48 minutes
A live, real-time recording.

Best when listened to on good headphones or good speakers in a quiet setting. Give this recording ten minutes or so to develop as it starts slowly.

These coyote voices were heard only indirectly, as a subtle resonance beneath a massive extent of basalt cliffs - as quiet breaths of natural music.
lyrics
--------------------
Vicinity of Location: Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Warner Wetlands, Poker Jim Ridge.

Natural Sounds:
Common Poorwills
Great Horned Owls
Pacific Chorus (Tree) Frog
Tree Crickets
Resonance of Air and Land
Ambient Echoes of Distant Coyotes

No obvious anthropogenic (human caused) noise.

Edits:
Amplified with EQ to highlight resonant ambience.

Cliffs Sing of Coyote (excerpt)

2023-06-29  20:52
on a trail into Sutton Mountain Wilderness Study Area
Wheeler County, Oregon

Mourning doves are singing a beautiful duet, common nighthawks are calling while in flight above and field crickets are chirping among the juniper and bunch grasses. 

The Sutton Mountain Wilderness Study Area has recently been proposed to be a new national monument. Visit the following web address to find out more:  https://onda.org/new-national-monument-proposed-for-sutton-mountain/

Mourning Dove Duet

Recorded in N. Central Oregon near Highway 218 between towns of Clarno and Fossil.
Low frequency sound around 75 Hz
Recurring on and off all morning, for duration's up to an hour. 
Three syllable call repeating approximately every 10 to 20 seconds.
Suspect wild turkey, though I am not finding this call on the web.

20240422_mystery

Great Horned Owls and a Western Screech Owl
Recorded within the John Day River Basin, Wheeler County, Oregon February 28, 2009, around 4:00 am.

An unlikely exchange between predator and prey, Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) and a Western Screech-Owl (Otus kennicottii) call during pre-dawn stillness with a background ambience of distant wind though juniper and rugged terrain. 

To make space on my SoundCloud account, the long version was deleted and replaced with this short version.  The 16 minute version of this recording is still available for listening, and as a high quality digital download, and also on the physical CD album Oregon Soundscapes, all available at:  
http://oregonsoundscapes.com

Great Horned Owls and a Western Screech Owl (3min)

Mystery Sounds: unknown owl vocalizations
South Fork Crooked River, Crook County, Oregon 
May 4 2012, approximately 1 hour after dusk.

Recorded outside the foot of my tent with AT3032 microphones and a SD702 recorder. There are also some rustling and sounds in the vicinity from other campers in our group settling in for the night.  
Edits:  the recording was amplified approximately 12 dB over natural, several car doors and one stomach grumble were edited out.  

If you have a guess which species might make such sounds, please feel free to comment.

My guesses: short-eared owl, long-eared owl, or western screech owl.

John Hartog
rockscallop.org

campsite mystery owls

2012 May 6  06:36 hrs
Recorded just over a hill from our camp along the South Fork Crooked River. Crook County, Oregon.
The dawn bird chorus has settled down a bit, yet the morning is alive with joyful expressions of life.
Meanwhile down in camp most of the Oregon Natural Desert Association volunteer crew, including myself, have not yet awoken - still resting from a good long day of riparian restoration.

Species:
Anyone who can help identify the species and calls, please feel free to comment, and I will add them to this list.

Gray Flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii)
Western Meadowlark
Northern Flicker: drum call
Chipping Sparrow
Common Raven


Equipment: Sound Devices 702 recorder, two Rode NT1A microphones head-spaced,  angled 60 degrees between axes, and separated by a sound absorbing baffle.
Edits: Amplified  20 dB above natural to bring out the nuances of this quiet soundscape, equalized to balance frequencies and to minimize a low frequency tone possibly from a distant motor.

This recording has been featured on the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) website: http://onda.org/blog/sounds-of-oregons-high-desert

Gray Flycatcher, Common Raven,  Northern Flicker, Chipping Sparrow, Western Meadowlark...

Northern Mockingbird recorded May 10, 2013 at Peters Creek Campground northeast of Christmas Valley in Central Oregon. 
Other bird sounds such as western meadowlark, common nighthawk, and brewers blackbird may be heard.
Includes some anthropogenic sounds from a sprinkler, a panting while passing by dog, people talking, and posibly the recordist's feet shuffling.  

Sound recording by John Hartog.
Photo of the actual bird by Deb Espesete.


Northern Mockingbird near Christmas Valley, Oregon.

Thank you to those who helped identify this bird song as Black-throated Sparrow.
Singing in the sage around dawn.

Recorded by John Hartog, May 11 2013 
Lake County near Warner Wetlands in Eastern Oregon.

Other species heard:
Common Poorwill
Spring Field Cricket
Western Meadowlark 

Tech Notes
Temperature: around 50 F.
Wind: Calm with occasional light gusts.
Recorder: Sound Devices 702
Microphones: Rode Nt1A (x2) baffled stereo.
Edits: Some spatial and frequency EQ applied; amplified above natural.

Cover image by John Hartog

Copyright John Hartog 2013 all rights reserved.

Black-throated Sparrow, Warner Valley, Oregon

Based in Portland, Oregon, John Hartog travels throughout the Pacific Northwest to record natural sound.



John Hartog

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