ambience

Recorded in primary rainforest at Sepilok Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia.

This is an excerpt from a 27 minute track available at https://wildambience.com/albums/sepilok-rainforest-ambience/

Rainforest Ambience - Sepilok Forest Reserve

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Rainforest Ambience - Sepilok Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Although it is close to Sydney, Wollemi National Park protects an area of wilderness which is relatively unexplored. This is an early morning recording on a warm summer day.

Summer in Wollemi

Summer in Wollemi National Park, NSW Australia

Just after sunrise in Sabah's Crocker Ranges, cicadas start buzzing like little electric saws.

Cicadas in the Crocker Ranges

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Cicadas in the Crocker Ranges, Sabah, Malaysia

The mountain rainforests of Far North Queensland provide habitat to a host of unique  species of animals & plants. This album captures the vibrant sounds of the montane cloud forest from before dawn until about mid-morning.

I set the microphones and recorder by a beautiful running stream at about 4am, the forest was nearly silent, not even the insects seemed to stir. Soon after, the frogs & birds gradually began to call as the sky began to lighten, and within a short time the forest was alive with the dawn chorus. The last 23 minute track on the album was recorded a little further along the stream, and closer to the water's edge. 

Sadly these forest are threatened by climate change. As average temperatures gradually rise, the insects, birds & other animals which depend on this cooler montane environment may be forced to move higher up the mountains. If this keeps up and the habitat keeps shrinking, the day may come when they will have no place to go.

More information - https://wildambience.com/albums/cloud-forest-creek/

Cloud Forest Creek

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Album "Cloud Forest Creek" - 48 minute Recording from Mt Hypipamee NP, QLD, Australia

Listen on headphones & relax to the sounds of the World Heritage-listed Daintree rainforest, Queensland, Australia. 

A group of Little Shrike Thrush whistle melodious phrases, responding to each other's calls. Superb & Wompoo Fruit Doves provide a bassline, & at about 1:05 you can hear Wompoo fly in, it's wings whoosh through the air. Towards the end a Black Butcherbird chortles, and the rasp of a Victoria's Riflebird is heard in the background.

The extended 72 minute version of this track has now been published as a downloable album available here - https://wildambience.com/albums/a-morning-in-the-daintree-rainforest/

Gentle Morning in the Daintree

Gentle Morning in the Daintree - QLD, Australia

Large-tailed Nightjars call repeatedly, along with katydids, crickets & frogs in the background.

Evening Rhythms

Evening Rhythms - Kuranda, QLD, Australia

Birds and insects call in this rich lowland rainforest chorus recorded near Malaysia's Taman Negara National Park.

Dawn Chorus in Taman Negara

Dawn Chorus in Taman Negara, Malaysia

An excerpt from a 4 hour recording which, for the most part, captured Taman Negara's gentle nocturnal soundscape . However on this excerpt the peaceful twinkling of insects & cooing of frogs is interrupted by alarm calls from a Spectacled Langur high in the canopy. Without good nocturnal vision, perhaps the langurs could smell a predator, or hear it's footsteps on the forest floor below. 

I remember waking up in our tent hearing these langurs at about 4:30am, and when we emerged from the tent at sunrise, the distinctive pugmarks of a Leopard were left in the sand only inches from where I slept. Perhaps it was attracted to my pig-like snoring?! 

Voices of the Night - Taman Negara

Voices of the Night - Taman Negara, Malaysia

The call of the huge Helmeted Hornbill is almost as amazing as it's appearance . About 5ft in length including the long tail, these large hornbills mainly eat fruits in the rainforest canopy. 

The call in it's entirety is sometimes up to 5 minutes long, a gradually accelerating series of notes ending in a maniacal cackle.

Helmeted Hornbill

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Helmeted Hornbill - Taman Negara, Malaysia

A lone, young male White-handed Gibbon sings from the rainforest canopy. 

White-handed Gibbon - Taman Negara

White-handed Gibbon - Taman Negara, Malaysia

The rainforests of Malaysia are some of the richest on the planet. While several national parks have been established in the country, large areas of primary forest still exist outside park borders, and it's these unprotected forests that are facing rapid & systemic destruction.

In March 2014 I spent a week in and around Taman Negara National Park recording the extraordinary sights and sounds of this stunning area. Sadly, only a few kilometres from park headquarters in Kuala Tahan, extensive areas of virgin forest are being logged and cleared for palm oil plantations. It's a story being played out throughout the world, as governments & corporations see forests as having more value dead than alive.

Recorded from a logging access road adjacent to pristine, primary rainforest, this is a sampler featuring some of the unique & beautiful natural sounds of this precious habitat.

Rainforest On The Edge

Rainforest On The Edge - Natural soundscapes recorded in Malaysia's lowland rainforest

The variety of cicadas in tropical rainforest always amazes me. This 'morning cicada' calls between 7-7:30am each day & does a good job as the 'alarm clock' of the rainforest!

Morning Cicada - Taman Negara

Morning Cicada - Taman Negara, Malaysia

A number of cicada species call in this sample, including an unidentified cicada with a very unusual cosmic-sounding call. These cicadas are quite common on Peninsula Malaysia, though I've never actually laid eyes on one! 

You can also hear a White-handed Gibbon sing in the distance.

Day Cicadas, Taman Negara

Day Cicadas, Taman Negara, Malaysia

At dusk, the rainforest pulses with life, with several cicada species calling including the world's largest (& no doubt one of the loudest!), the Empress Cicada.

Dusk Cicadas - Taman Negara,

Dusk Cicadas - Taman Negara, Malaysia

Afternoon in Bardia National Park, Nepal, and the gentle sounds of insects fill the warm air. From the riverside vegetation, Red-vented Bulbuls call cheerfully & a pair of Oriental Pied Hornbills fly overhead. In the river, fish occasional skim across the surface, wary of the kingfisher perched nearby.

Afternoon by the River, Bardia

Afternoon by the River, Bardia NP, Nepal

I visited Sri Lanka's Sinharaja rainforest during the monsoon season with the hope of recording some of it’s unique wildlife, but the torrential rain forced me to spend most of my time sheltering inside a lodge! However on the final morning of my stay the rain eased for a few hours and I had a brief opportunity to record the sounds you hear on this album.

The full 65 minute, 6 track album is downloadable from https://wildambience.com/albums/storm-in-sinharaja/

Storm in Sinharaja

Album: Storm in Sinharaja (Recorded in Sri Lanka)

Crickets

Storm, as from the balcony

Kubah's forests are pulsing with life, and the soundscapes that can be heard in this national Park are among the most incredible I have ever experienced. This recording features the incredibly powerful sounds of Empress cicadas, along with the melodic song of the White-rumped Shama, and the rhythmic ' te-hoop 'calls of Golden-whiskered Barbets.

This sample is an excerpt of the track "Dusk Rhythms" from the album Rhythm of Kubah - https://wildambience.com/albums/rhythm-of-kubah/

Dusk - Empress Cicadas & White-rumped Shama

Dusk - Empress Cicadas & White-rumped Shama - Recorded in Borneo's rainforest

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

ambience

Major Koenig