This is a chill frog call hour long audio track.  I really like this track.  Taken about 11pm in June of 2021 the sounds here are primarily rhythmic pig frog calls without the usual loud and mostly overwhelming green tree frog calls.  I believe the lack of green tree frog calls may be due to the habitat type of the recording area.  The Middle Mounds II area is mostly canopy free, open freshwater marsh area dominated by sawgrass, Cladium spp..  Green tree frogs, though aquatic, prefer as their names suggest, trees .  You will hear some green tree frogs in the background but the majority of frog calls in this clip are from the pig frogs.  I find the chill beat of the pig frog calls to be tranquil and relaxing, especially with the subdued crickets calling throughout the background.  Sony PCM recorder with Lom MikroUsi mics, windbubbles and drybags.  St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.

Pig Frog Chill 11pm Middle Mounds II SMNWR June 2021

inspired by ted hughes - crow,   and how it re-arranged my mind
from years ago....and lifted off the hard drive
my friend mark rossi, did the 'station to station' vocal

crow narrative one

Two minutes of Double Crested Cormorant calls with Red Winged Blackbirds calling too.  The Double Crested Cormorant, Nannopterum auritum, is a large fishing bird frequently seen near coastal areas and across large bodies of open waters.  Cormorants are often seen with outstretched wings drying their feathers after diving for fish.  Their guttural calls are fascinating.

Cormorant Calling With Red Winged Blackbirds

Rainy evening recording with one LOM MikroUsi. Test of a DIY furry windscreen. Need higher air velocity for a better test.

Suburban Rain - LOM MikroUsi 24 - 48

The Empress cicada starts calling as the sun sets, just as daytime birds are winding down their calls and nighttime creatures are waking up. You first hear distant ones, and it almost sounds like some industrial metal cutting process. Long version at https://youtu.be/6ZPDYlvj7MM

The weird sound of the Empress cicada

Spending a day hiking in nature makes me feel much better.  This 'feeling better' can be quantified too. For me, spending time out in the wilds resets my nervous system, lowers my blood pressure, dissipates stress and just makes me feel all around better.

Back in the city however we are continually exposed to a much heavier, constant background noise loading than we would be if we lived way out in the country.  There is a huge difference between the sounds in the urban core and the sounds in the wildlife refuge far away from roads, highways, buildings, factories and urban infrastructure.  Because we are desensitized to urban noise levels we don't realize how much this excess urban noise may be affecting our bodies. 

How does the constant elevated noise level from the city impact our health?  Irreversible hearing loss is now one of the most prevalent health issues affecting humans, as are hypertension and stress.  Loud urban noises include both unwanted noises such as traffic and wanted noises that include stereo speakers, concerts and loud car speakers.  All noises have a direct impact on our well being.

Spending a weekend day out in a state or regional park away from the city can provide a number of health benefits.  Time outdoors make us aware of just how noisy the urban core actually is.  From a health perspective it is important to recognize the true levels of ambient city noise we are exposed to daily.  Recognizing noises we previously ignored leads to an understanding of how spending time outside the city in nature can provide a number of important positive effects on our bodily systems.

The first 15 seconds of this audio was recorded just outside the Tallahassee city limit, in a residential neighborhood at midnight. The next 15 seconds were taken in the SMNWR at midnight, both recordings set with same gain (input volume) levels.  The differences in city noise and nature noise can be obvious when the ambient noise levels of both are compared side by side.  

When is the last time you have spent a number of hours outdoors, away from the city, hiking, tubing, swimming or camping?  Next time you go, pay attention to the differences between the noises from home and the much lower levels of background noise in the forests.  Once we are able to distinguish between urban and nature noise levels the contrast is obviously evident.

Working with nature recordings has heightened my desire to visit and re-visit the wilds.  As soon as I leave the city and draw near to the coastal wetlands preserves I feel a sense of relaxation come over me.  Immersed in birds' and frogs' melodious calls and the buffered quiet of forest green, my body responds with a noticeable increase in available energy tempered with deep relaxation. 

I am renewed.  Yet too soon the sun sets low and it is time to return to the noisy city.

Listen to the differences here.

Comparison Of Urban and Rural Ambient Noise Levels

Coyote Pack reconciliation calls after a midnight hunt in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.  Recorder placed in a mixed hardwood slough in the midst of a wet pine flatwoods. Sony PCM with stereo microphones in dry bags.  Waxing moon, light rain. November 2021.  The acoustics of the flatwoods are complex.  An abundance of water surface creates wave reflection and 'echos' as well as does the fire influenced open midstory under the acres and acres of pines.  Note: Coyote calls are usually a signal for the pack to regather or to call juveniles after nighttime excursions and not necessarily to signal a kill.

Coyote Calls, Port Leon Road SMNWR

Rain is to be expected on a rainforest expedition and Costa Rica is no exception. Recording soundscapes in the rainforests and cloud forests of this beautifully green Central American country reminds me of previous jungle experiences and also teaches me a few new lessons. Longer version at https://youtu.be/03sgLm-pLSA

Costa Rica - Jungle Rain

Early evening frog and barred owl calls across shallow freshwater pond in pine flatwoods west of Lighthouse Road.  Frequent wind gusts are audible as well as Southern field crickets.  This audio is a twenty minute chorus of cricket frogs interspersed with barred owl calls, typical of wet, freshwater flatwoods night sounds. Dry bag protected Sony PCM recorders, with fuzzy windshields and clippy lav mics.

Barred Owl And Cricket Frogs Early Evening April 2022

40 Minutes of dawn bird, crickets and frog calls east of Visitors Center adjacent wet pine flatwoods pond. 5am - 5:40am April 2022.  The dawn chorus audio starts with the night hunting Chuck will's Widow in the distance.  As sunrise nears other birds, such as Great crested flycatcher, Gallinule, Northern Cardinal, Mourning dove, Carolina wren, White eyed Vireo, Owls, Northern Parula and others begin their songs and calls.  Pig frogs, Southern cricket frogs and a few green tree frogs add to the nature melody as do a large n umber of Southern Field Crickets.  The wind gusts were a bit strong and somewhat noticeable. Sony PCM recorders, DPA 4060 mics, windjammers & drybags.

Dawn Chorus, Freshwater Pond

One of the last performances by the Shahid Ali Nusrat Band before the sad loss of Nusrat, in a small room, before about 25 fans in Lahore. There  are issues with clipping in the first two tracks but worth listening to, anyway.

QAWAALI Track 1 Mix20191121

Florida native, bioacoustics, nature art & poet, A & B dissection, RCC. Swamps, beaches, wildflowers, Hemp Farmer, ethnobotanist & lawyer. #leedAP #marfan http://kevinsonger.com

Pig Frog Chill 11pm Middle Mounds II SMNWR June 2021

Kevin Songer

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