Nature

The montane rainforests of Gunung Halimun are one of the last truly wild places on the island of Java. Logging and intensive farming have all taken their toll on this densely populated Indonesian island, and only small fragments of healthy forest remain.

In the lush, steep hills of the Gunung Halimun-Salak mountain range, rushing mountain streams cascade through ancient mossy forests, and wildlife is abundant.

This album captures the gentle sounds of a mountain stream along with birds, frogs and insects from the surrounding rainforest from afternoon until about the early hours of the morning. 

With the natural 'white-noise' from the rushing stream, this album is ideal for noise-masking, as a sleeping aid, and for sufferers of tinnitus.

The full 50 minute album is available for download from https://wildambience.com/albums/mountain-stream/

Mountain Stream

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'Mountain Stream' - Album Sample - recorded in Gunung Halimun National Park, Java

A short excerpt from Richard Fortey's book Trilobite.

Richard Fortey's Trilobite read by LC

‘The woods are the great beauty of this country… A fine forest-like beech wood far more beautiful than anything else which we have seen in its vicinity’ is how John Stuart Mill described a small patch of beech-and bluebell woodland, buried deeply in the Chiltern Hills and now owned by Richard Fortey. Drawing upon a lifetime of scientific expertise and abiding love of nature, Fortey uses his small wood to tell a wider story of the ever-changing British landscape, human influence on the countryside over many centuries and the vital interactions between flora, fauna and fungi.

The trees provide a majestic stage for woodland animals and plants to reveal their own stories. Fortey presents his wood as an interwoven collection of different habitats rich in species. His attention ranges from the beech and cherry trees that dominate the wood to the flints underfoot; the red kites and woodpeckers that soar overhead; the lichens, mosses and liverworts decorating the branches as well as the myriad species of spiders, moths, beetles and crane-flies. The 300 species of fungi identified in the wood capture his attention as much as familiar deer, shrews and dormice.

Fortey is a naturalist who believes that all organisms are as interesting as human beings – and certainly more important than the observer. So this book is a close examination of nature and human history. He proves that poetic writing is compatible with scientific precision. The book is filled with details of living animals and plants, charting the passage of the seasons, visits by fellow enthusiasts; the play of light between branches; the influence of geology; and how woodland influences history, architecture and industry. On every page he shows how an intimate study of one small wood can reveal so much about the natural world and demonstrates his relish for the incomparable pleasures of discovery.

The Wood for the Trees: The Long View of Nature..., By Richard Fortey, Read by Mike Grady

A rich spring dawn chorus in Round HIll Nature Reserve, south west New South Wales.  This reserve protects a significant area of mallee habitat where a number of threatened species can be found. 

Dozens of birds are calling in this recording including Crested Bellbird, Grey Shrikethrush, Rufous Whistler, White-fronted & White-eared Honeyeaters, Splendid Fairywren, Southern Scrub-robin, Peaceful Dove, Weebill, Emu & more...!

Dawn at Round Hill Nature Reserve

Dawn at Round Hill Nature Reserve, NSW, Australia

The album begins at dawn in the Capertee Valley, NSW, with the melodious song of the Australian Magpie filling the misty morning air. 

Each track on this album features typical Australian birdsong from a different habitat of the Australian bush - open country, mallee, wet eucalypt forest, coastal forest, dry woodland and montane forest. 

For more details and see https://wildambience.com/albums/birdsong-of-the-australian-bush

Birdsong of the Australian Bush

'Birdsong of the Australian Bush' - Album Sample

Saturday the 8th of June 2019.  I decided to have the microphones about 25 meters away from the area where the Pied Flycatcher was singing in the other recordings yesterday, as this would be in between the Flycatcher and the Willow Warbler.  Surprisingly the Willow Warbler didn’t make an appearance at all, however to my surprise a Tree Creeper came close by and called and sang.  I ‘called in’ at about 18 minutes to see everything was alright with the recorder and batteries, then went back to the log I was sitting on (This bit was edited out later).  Near to the end of this long recording (26m25) a Chaffinch called a lot, but didn’t sing.  For the second recording (16m50) it was more of the same, however near the end a Brambling called for a while near the mics, I was pleased with that and also how the gain level was just right.  Made a third recording but I was concerned about the noise starting up, wasn’t sure what it was, but it was enough in the circumstances to make me pack up and go back to bed.  If I done more recording I would buy a 50 metre length of microphone cable so I could be next to the recorder to watch levels while still being far enough away from the mics that they would not pick up every bit of noise I might make - like tummy rumbles.  MKH8020’s, MixPre, Marantz PMD661.  From a 48/24 original.  Recording 3250.

EarlyBirds (1) 8 June 2019 - 3.18am - Oulanka National Park Finland

There were very few birds in the forest, however I heard these two singing in the early morning, I love the reverb the trees give to the sound.  Recording 3269.

Redstart and Songthrush - 12 June 2019 - 4.04am - Oulanka

After making a dawn recording at a Stringybark forest in Deep Creek Conservation Park, I visited a pine forest  several kilometres farther inland that I hadn't visited for many years. Being situated at the crest of a hill, the forest was quite exposed to wind; which, however, couldn't penetrate down to the forest floor; where, of course, the microphones were placed. Although the wind pervaded the forest space, the calls of the birds remained sharp and clear. The natural mix and balance of these very different and yet very complementary sounds was deeply pleasing and relaxing. (Among others: Grey Shrikethrush, Golden Whistler, Galah, Common Bronzewing, Common Blackbird.)

Recorded around 8:30 am in the morning with a pair of MKH 8020s in AB array with 60 cm spacing into a MixPre-6-II. (Best listened to with good quality headphones with a flat frequency response.)

2019.12.07 Pine Forest. Morning. Early Summer. Wind. Bird calls.

The fluting calls of White-crowned shamas fill the valley as the sun sets over the jungles of Maliau NP, Borneo. Recorded with Sony PCM D10, Lom MikroUsi mics and BubbleBee Windbubbles. 1-hour version on Youtube at https://youtu.be/0RyOT0yRSH4

Read about my expedition to Borneo at https://mindful-audio.com/blog/sound-recording-borneo

Borneo Rainforest - Evening - Dusk Chorus With Shama

Calm dawn chorus with insects and Gibbons in the jungles of Borneo. Soft fog drip and occasional frog and bird calls add detail to the soundscape. Listen to more recordings I made in Borneo at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCRlYmmK1sqrM_BB3xp6quofSq7fYdEPA

Borneo Rainforest - Dawn - Gibbons

1-hour long version on Youtube: https://youtu.be/NFVI7ioUe-4

It's afternoon in Maliau Basin, deep in the rainforests of Borneo. A late Barbet sings its heart out while daytime insect calls are waning. Empress cicadas prepare for their dusk calls and can be heard towards the end of the recording. A soft mist descends on the valley as deep darkness envelops everything.

Recorded in the Borneo rainforest with Sony PCM D10, Lom MikroUsi micropohones and BubbleBee Windbubbles. More sounds and stories at https://mindful-audio.com

Borneo rainforest - Afternoon in the undergrowth

Juin 2019 - Début de soirée en bordure d'une zone humide.
Une vallée sauvage peuplée de castors en Ardenne belge.

Recorder : Sony D100
Mic : Usi Pro LOM Stereo

190603 - Zone humide - La vallée des castors

A mystical swamp somewhere far away from civilization

Recording Location: secret
Recording technique: ambisonics
Converted to stereo

Ancient mystical swamp

Dawn in early March - hear songbirds, seagulls, woodpeckers, crows resonate across a coastal cove in South Bristol, Maine. 

Recorded with a spaced-pair of Usi Pro's into a mixpre6.

Please contact me at maxwellsmith.net for licensing sounds. Thanks!

Early Spring in the North East - Dawn Chorus - South Bristol, ME

It's a beautiful morning on the border between South Africa and Botswana as an unbelievably varied dawn chorus resonates in through dry riverbed. Recorded with Sennheiser DMS and Sound Devices 633. More recordings from Southern Africa at https://mindful-audio.com/southern-african-ambience/

South African Savanna - Dry riverbed dawn chorus

Heavy fog drifted through the canopy and water dripped from the leaves. Dawn was just approaching near the old Mexican Elm at Mt. Totumas Cloud Forest. Flame-colored Tanagers and Black-faced Solitaires started to sing first. The Howler Monkeys first sounded like they wanted five more minutes before they too began to celebrate the new day.

Dawn by the Old Mexican Elm

A Binaural recording from the Black River valley in Skultuna sweden, at the bank of lake Fläcksjön.

Frogs  at the Black River(Binaural)

Rainforest chorus with Olive-backed Oriole, Crimson Rosella, Satin Bowerbird, Eastern Whipbird , Bar-shouldered Dove and Yellow-throated Scrubwren to name a few.

Wildlife Sounds of Dorrigo Plateau

No Go Gully -  Rainforest atmosphere The Dorrigo Plateau - NSW

Sounds from Papua New Guinea

Dawn Chorus, Wahgi Valley, PNG

Here's another recording from Kubah National Park in Sarawak, Malaysia. The only editing to this is a slight adjustment to equalisation.

Download the full 15 minute version https://wildambience.com/albums/dusk-by-the-frog-pond

Nature

Linette