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In the Australian winter, Pied Currawongs often form flocks and search out fruiting trees to raid. I set up my recording gear in front of a native Lilli Pilli tree in full fruit, and it was only a matter of time before the currawongs arrived and enjoyed one of their winter parties!

Currawong Concerto

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Currawong Concerto - Macleay River Valley, Australia

Last night I stayed at a lovely campsite at Dunn's Swamp in Wollemi National Park. It was wonderfully quiet at night, apart from the sounds of nocturnal wildlife.

This morning, I put the microphones out early, but the frost sent me back to the tent and I enjoyed the dawn chorus from the comfort of a sleeping bag!

6am This Morning - Wollemi National Park

6am This Morning - Wollemi National Park, NSW, Australia

For the early Australian settlers, camping in the bush must have been a frightening experience. 

With limited knowledge of Australian fauna, their imaginations no doubt ran wild when hearing some of the rather disconcerting sounds of the bush at night - such as these harmless Brush-tailed Possums having a territorial disagreement.

The Beast of Dunn's Swamp

The Beast of Dunn's Swamp, Wollemi NP, Australia

Casuarina Creek
Location: Macleay River valley, NSW, Australia
Release Date: October 2013
Duration: 40 minutes
Number of Tracks: 1
Audio Formats: mp3 & FLAC (48kHZ / 24bit)

At about 50cm long, Glossy Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami) are the smallest of the five black-cockatoo species, but have one of the most formidable beaks of any bird. Click, crack, crack, the male Glossy Black in front of me carefully rotated an Allocasuarina cone with his foot, the massive bill delicately clipping each seed and extracting the tiny kernel. Occasionally, he would make a soft creaky call which was strangely beautiful amongst the constant crackles of the group.

Sadly, the sounds of Glossy Black's are being heard less often due to destruction of their preferred food source (allo-casuarina) and nesting trees (mature eucalypt with hollows). Their population has declined, with local extinctions and range contractions.

It was a wonderful experience to sit amongst these birds and record the sound of their feeding. This single track album is the result.

You can purchase and download this album on the Wild Ambience website - https://wildambience.com/albums/casuarina-creek/

Casuarina Creek

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Casuarina Creek - Nature Soundscape Album from NSW, Australia

The deep 'whoo-oom woop' of Mountain Imperial Pigeon can be heard above the gentle stream. A Hill Blue Flycatcher makes the ticking call as it hunts in the undergrowth, and Fire-tufted Barbet call occasionally in the background. Also, a couple of different frog species can be heard throughout.

This track is a sample from the album "Bukit Fraser - Rainforest Dawn" recorded in the Malaysia highlands.

Available for download from https://wildambience.com/albums/bukit-fraser-rainforest-dawn/

Relax by a Mountain Stream

Relax by a Mountain Stream - Bukit Fraser, Malaysia

The sounds of the rainforest late this afternoon were wonderful. I visited Eubenangee Swamp National Park, about an hours drive south of Cairns, and took a trail which meandered through lowland tropical rainforest alongside a river. Yellow Orioles are the dominant species calling with their magical liquid fluty sounds filling the humid air.

Eubenangee Rainforest

Eubenangee Rainforest, Queensland, Australia

Recorded at 6am in tropical rainforest on the slopes of Mt. Lewis, Queensland, Australia.

Mt. Lewis Rainforest

Mt. Lewis Rainforest, QLD, Australia

I placed the microphones a few metres from a small stream in upland rainforest and left them to capture the dawn chorus. You can hear the raucous calls of Orange-footed Scrubfowl (one of Australia's three species of megapode or mound-builder) as well as the unusual wails of Spotted Catbird. Occasionally Northern Barred Frogs (Mixophyes schevilli)call from the leaf litter.

Dawn at Lumholtz Lodge

Dawn at Lumholtz Lodge, Atherton Tablelands, Australia

Although the wet season hadn't begun, the frogs had just started calling following some light rain the previous day. Northern Barred Frogs (Mixophyes schevilli) make the wonderfully deep croaks, while the beautiful Orange-thighed Treefrogs (Litoria xanthomera)call in chorus making the not-so-musical craaaak-craaaak-craaaaak sound.

Frog Chorus on Black Mountain Road

Frog Chorus on Black Mountain Road, Kuranda, QLD, Australia

After the tragic bushfires which devastated parts of the Blue Mountains recently, much of the scenery around Lithgow is charred black. However, in some of the wetter gullies the vegetation was spared, and these pockets of green must have acted as 'life-rafts' for displaced birds and animals. 

Now, a couple of months after the blazes, life is bursting out from the charred tree trunks and blackened ground. In the gullies, the dawn chorus is as rich as ever, and in the coming years these natural corridors will again prove vital, acting as highways for birds, insects and other wildlife as they move out into the regenerating bush.

This recording was made by a small stream after a few days of rain. Species recorded include: Grey & Rufous Fantails, White-throated Treecreeper, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Rufous Whistler & Australian Raven.

Life After the Fires

Life After the Fires - Blue Mountains, Australia

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

Strong winds made recording difficult on this trip to Mount Kinabalu, but I managed to get one decent recording where the sound of the wind complements the birdsong & ambience.

Windy Morning on Mount Kinabalu

Windy Morning on Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia

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

Cicadas in the Crocker Ranges

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

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

The roars from two Bengal Tigers reverberate through the Sal forest in Nepal's Bardia National Park. 

This is an excerpt from the album "A Day in Bardia" (2014 version), a pure nature soundscape recorded in Bardia National Park, Nepal. Available for download from https://wildambience.com/albums/a-day-in-bardia/

Tigers in the Sal Forest

Tigers in the Sal Forest, Bardia, Nepal

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

Evening Rhythms

Evening Rhythms - Kuranda, QLD, Australia

After leaving my gear out to capture the sounds of dusk, I retrieved the kit after dark & expected to hear a gentle evening chorus upon reviewing the recording. However, it seems a herd of wild pigs had spent most of the afternoon in the clearing where I left the microphones, snuffling around and gorging themselves on some sort of piggy delights. I'm just glad they didn't gobble down the backpack or recording gear!

Wild Pigs at Dusk

Wild Pigs at Dusk, 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.

reading music

Prasad Sh