Intoxicating, high on nature and beautiful it is too.

3 minute audio sample from the 80 minute nature sound album; "Mojave", available for download from www.listeningearth.com/LE/product.php?id=118

It is the still moments before dawn in the Mojave desert. 

The first birds begin calling in the dark, their voices drifting over the open plains. From rocky slopes come the echoes of a Coyote pack in full cry, while a pair of Great Horned Owls call as they patrol their territory. 

As the dawn chorus grows, we hear a variety of western desert birdsong; Sparrows, Cactus Wrens, Flycatchers and Thrashers. A community of Gambel's Quail call prominently as they socialise, and a tiny Hummingbird buzzes our ear.

Mojave, An American Soundscape - Album sample

3 minute audio sample from the 80 minute nature soundscape; "Cloudforest - Malaysia", available for download from www.listeningearth.com/LE/product.php?id=120

A chain of rainforested hills run the length of peninsular Malaysia. Mists drift through these mountain forests, condensing and nourishing an abundance of epiphytes, mosses and ferns.

In the pre-dawn, a chorus of piping frogs and nocturnal insects gently fills the humid air. With first light, the wonderful diversity of birdlife found here begins to awake. Babblers chatter animatedly, and the whooping of Cuckoo Doves echo through the trees. One of the standout species of the forest is heard, the unusual buzzing call of a Fire-tufted Barbet.

A flock of Silver-eared Mesias pass by with much scolding and sweet singing, and the electric cries of a pair of Yellownapes carry through the treetops.

For all the tropical diversity, this recording is actually very easy on the ear. There is an organic pace to the changing soundscape; sounds ebbing and flowing gradually as the morning progresses.

'Cloudforest - Malaysia' - Album sample

3 minute audio sample from the 60 minute nature soundscape; "Northern Wetland" by Mark Brennan, available for download from www.listeningearth.com/LE/product.php?id=122

Dip your paddle into the purity of Canada's Boreal wetlands. Glide gently through bogs, fens and marshes, to find yourself immersed in the sonic richness of these extraordinary places.

We value water, but do we also give value to the incredible biological diversity of these places? These recordings, from the high tundra plateau of the Cape Breton Highlands, to the hidden wetlands of the Acadian forests of Canada's east coast, help us to appreciate the uniqueness of these ecosystems.

Listen, relax and become intimate with the wetlands of the north.

'Northern Wetland' by Mark Brennan - Album sample

Spacious birdsong and forest ambience from a rarely visited area in Orissa state, eastern India. 

Kotagar forest ambience, Orissa, India

3 minute audio sample from the 76 minute nature sound album; "Redwoods", available for download from www.listeningearth.com/LE/product.php?id=124

This album is presented in three scenes: a first dawn, an afternoon, and another dawn. The afternoon sequence is particularly spacious and relaxing, the dawn recordings fascinating and evocative. The ravens in these redwoods are rather characterful, giving all kinds of gargling and croaking calls.

We were so delighted to capture the sounds of Marbled Murrelets. These small seabirds  spend the day feeding at sea, before returning to roost high in a Redwood. They are a rare species, very endangered, and we are privileged to hear them as they wing seawards on their morning 'commute'.

Redwoods, An American Soundscape - Album Sample

3 minute audio sample from the 75 minute nature soundscape; "Yosemite - Mariposa Grove Dawn" by Dan Dugan, available for download from http://www.listeningearth.com/LE/p-126-yosemite-mariposa-grove-dawn

Dawn comes to the giant sequoias of Yosemite's Mariposa Grove, the largest trees in the world.

It is a June morning, the peak of the spring breeding season. The dawn chorus evolves minute by minute, as a variety of species wake up, sing and leave to go off for breakfast. The single note of the Mountain Quail excites the reverberation of the forest, revealing the space around us.

This album was recorded in a single take - unedited and unmixed.

"Mariposa Grove is away from the main Yosemite Valley, on the southern edge of the park. On my annual visits, I tried various locations in the grove before discovering a superb spot in the Upper Grove at an altitude of 6500 feet, free of creek noise. The place is magical. I return to it again and again, in all seasons."

'Yosemite - Mariposa Grove Dawn' by Dan Dugan - Album sample

The reef-fringed islands of the Vanuatu group lie in the subtropical western Pacific Ocean. Their geographic isolation has lead to the evolution of species found nowhere else on earth.

Within earshot of waves breaking in the distance, this recording features the sounds of one of the Vanuatu's lowland rainforests.

3 minute audio sample from the 64 minute nature sound album; "Pacific Rainforest - Vanuatu", available for download from http://www.listeningearth.com/LE/p-129

Pacific Rainforest - Vanuatu - Album sample

Immerse yourself in the lush green world of a tropical rainforest.

Birdsong echoes from the depths of the forest, and small frogs call from the side of a stream which flows nearby. Eventually we move into a rainforest evening, the air humming with a hypnotic chorus of nocturnal insects.

'Rainforest Sanctuary'- album sample

In the leafy shade of a woodland in Southern Turkey, the air is perfumed with the aroma of Frankincense. 

In ancient times, this small forest supplied sacred resin that was traded from Egypt to Babylon. Still a productive grove today, it is an oasis of calm. Birdsong wafts among the trees - Serins, Chaffinches, Long-tailed Tits, Nuthatches, Blackbird and Greenfinches are heard as they flit among the branches on a sunlit, spring morning.

'Frankincense Forest': album sample

3 minute audio sample from the 60 minute nature sound album; "Peskowesk", by Mark Brennan, available for download from www.listeningearth.com/LE/product.php?id=112

Nova Scotia's Kejimkujik National Park; its lakes, rivers and forests have been a traditional stopping place for thousands of years for the First Nations Mi'kmaq people of Eastern North America.

To paddle its pristine waterways is to step back in time, in an intimate adventure that cannot help but re-connect you to the Earth.

This is the soundscape journey of an approaching spring in the northern deciduous forests of Canada. The sounds of ”Peskowesk”, are sure to awaken you to the possibilities of what it means to connect with wild nature.

'Peskowesk' by Mark Brennan - album sample

3 minute audio sample from the 79 minute nature soundscape; "Native Birdsong of New Zealand", available for download from www.listeningearth.com/LE/product.php?id=116

New Zealand has relatively few native bird species, however they are among the best songbirds anywhere. This album presents a soundscape which features most of them.

We begin in the predawn, experiencing a dawn chorus of Tuis and Bellbirds; without doubt the magical, silvery songs that eighteenth century naturalist, Joseph Banks, described in his journal as "certainly the most melodious wild musick I have ever heard". 

Joining the dawn chorus we also hear Whiteheads, Stitchbirds and Saddlebacks, each rare endemic species with distinctive voices. 

However it is the Kokakos that steal the show. They are so rare it is a privilege to encounter them. Their slow songs comprise pure tones, and which feel somewhat sad and mournful to our ears. Here a pair sing antiphonally, their voices carrying through the bush like the mythical sirens. 

Next, we visit New Zealand's ancient podocarp forests, to hear the magnificent Kakas. These playful, large cockatoos have exhilarating vocalisations; a variety of explosive rasps, liquid whistles, and intimate chuckles. We also hear native Robins in full voice, the delicate tinkling of the Tomtit, and the eerie wails of secretive Wekas. 

Moving to the South Island, we encounter species restricted to those cooler habitats, including Brown Creepers, Riflemen, and the increasingly rare Yellowheads. 

Finally, the iconic, nocturnal Kiwi. As dusk falls, the Tuis fall silent as the first Morepork awakes. A Kiwi calls close by, while another walks steadily towards us with shuffling gait through the leaf litter. Passing within inches, it moves off into the night. 

'Native Birdsong of New Zealand' - Album sample

Listening Earth offers an evocative range of natural listening experiences -  soundscapes recorded in wild locations around the world. 

Established 25 years ago by nature field recordist Andrew Skeoch and photographer Sarah Koschak, it is their passion to share the beautiful, unique and often fragile soundscapes of our living planet. 

"We hope listening will remind you of life in balance, and transport you to wild and often remote places."

'Northern Wetland' by Mark Brennan - Album sample

Listening Earth

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