This storm induced nocturnal chorus was recorded near midnight at Deal Island WMA, Somerset County, Maryland. There are Green Treefrogs and Southern Leopard Frogs calling in the foreground. Additionally, there are several species of singing insects; Greater Anglewing, Slightly Musical Conehead Katydid, Black-legged Meadow Katydid, Saltmarsh Meadow Katydid and several species of tree crickets. There was a lot of vehicular traffic that threatened to ruin the recording session. It finally settled down around 11:30 PM, thankfully.

Frog and Insect Chorus

During a mid-March visit to Big Bend National Park in Texas, I recorded this immersive binaural soundscape at dawn in Santa Elena Canyon. It features wind blowing through a dense thicket of Carrizo Cane (an invasive species from Asia that is now common along the Rio Grande), which produces clicks and clatters as gusts pass through the stiff, bamboo-like reeds. Ravens nest in the canyon and croak repeatedly as they fly up and down the Rio Grande River, their calls echoing off the steep cliffs above. Such a pleasing, enveloping mix of the sounds of the wind, ravens and reeds!. Please wear headphones for optimal immersion!

Recorded by Lang Elliott on March 17, 2021 shortly before sunrise. © Lang Elliott, All Rights Reserved.

Wind, Ravens, Reeds

I have tried to record common midwife toads unsuccessfully for over two years and finally succeeded on a recent trip to Lorraine. This recording was taken in an old disused quarry. The toads begin calling at dusk and when the conditions are right, continue on throughout the night. This recording was made at around midnight, once all the birds had stopped singing. There were hundreds of toads all calling at slightly different pitches, resulting in this very musical performance. 

Sound Devices Mix Pre 6 + 2 x Sennheiser MKH 8040s (ORTF)
Recorded on 05.06.2022

Photo credit : Bernard DUPONT (Creative Commons)

Common Midwife Toads - Lorraine, France

NOTE: This is a binaural soundscape ... please listen using headphones! Otherwise, you may not appreciate the magic.

I always strive to keep my ears well-tuned, in order to perceive uplifting soundscapes that might easily escape notice, but sometimes I am not quite up to the task. Such was the case in late July of 2018.

I met up with two recording friends at one of my favorite wild areas … Shindagin Hollow in upstate New York, near where I live. We were very glad to see one another and immediately began chatting about this and that as we hooked up our recording equipment (they with parabolic reflectors and me with my binaural soundscape microphone). Then we dispersed, heading into the forest in different directions, each hoping to capture something of value.

It was then that I paused for a moment just to take in the scene … a foggy misty morning following a rainy night … the deep forest of hemlocks and hardwoods … drip from leaves in all directions … and subtle bird songs. I took a long slow breath and began to amble down the trail. At that moment, a wood thrush caught my attention, singing in the distance though quite clear. I stopped and listened more attentively … another was sounding off from even farther away, and a very faint one as well, unless I was just imagining it. And did I just hear a hermit thrush, buried in the mix?

Oh my, I almost did not notice … there, right next to the road, a lone ground cricket trilling prominently from the gravel. How could I have missed such an obvious sound? And then I detected a barred owl, hooting way off in the distance. And a mourning dove, just audible, cooing softly time and again.

Suddenly, I shook myself awake, finally aware of the miracle before me! The magic I was hoping to find somewhere down the trail was actually right next to me, fully and elegantly expressed! I did not need to walk down the trail in search of anything because nature was already showering me with an exalted mix, an elixir so pure and powerful that it thrilled my entire being, but only after I became fully receptive to it. Had I kept walking, I would have missed it entirely. Thank you wood thrush for breaking the spell of my self absorption, for unplugging my ears and inviting me into the here and now!

So finally I jumped into action … I quickly set up my soundscape mic, hit record, and prayed that nothing would interrupt this amazing concert so freely given. How careful we must be to keep our minds calm and quiet and our senses free of interference, so that we do not miss the extraordinary beauty that nature showers upon us, sometimes subtly, and often when we least expect it to arrive.

© Lang Elliott, Music of Nature. All Rights Reserved.

Thrush Dripscape

Out of all digital recordings that I have made since 1991, this is the one I love the most. The bird is magic. 
Recorded with a Telinga stereo parabol and a Sony DAT TCD-D3 machine in June 1991. No filter.
You don´t need headphones for this track.

Whinchat

Recording at a local wildlife management area. Marsh Wrens, Red-winged Blackbirds and hundreds of Snow Geese.

Brunswick Point March 13 2024

Recorded in N. Central Oregon near Highway 218 between towns of Clarno and Fossil.
Low frequency sound around 75 Hz
Recurring on and off all morning, for duration's up to an hour. 
Three syllable call repeating approximately every 10 to 20 seconds.
Suspect wild turkey, though I am not finding this call on the web.

20240422_mystery

Frog chorus (from 1 hour recording) during sunset-twilight at Ouachita Mountain pond.Numerous species of frogs/toads were calling, along with cicadas, crickets and a distant owl (not audible due to loudness of frogs/toads). The pond was small, only about 40-50 feet in diameter, with a gurgling stream running in from the top (right) and rushing outflow stream (left).

Recorded with Shure MX391/O (omni) mics ($35 each on Ebay, thanks to Rock Scallop (John Hartog) and pipmics (Mike Rooke) for bringing to my attention and advising on re-wiring), input to Sony PCM-D50 (gain 5, 48KHz, 24bit). Post: high-pass filter to reduce non-specific low-frequency rumble (these mics are very good at picking up bass).

Eastern Narrow-Mouthed Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis; sound like "baaa" of sick sheep), Cope's Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis; loud trill), Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi; clicking), Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans; like pluck of loose banjo string); Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea; high-pitched quack-like call) and others.

Location: USA, Arkansas, Ouachita National Forest. LAT: 34° 50.927' N, LONG: 92° 49.113' W. Elevation: 1137 feet. Setting:pond, with stream running into it from above and outflow from below. Water with heavy growth around edges.
[ref: 110813 05]


Evening frog chorus at pond in Ouachita Mountains Aug-13-2011 (Shure MX391/O)

The sounds in this composition will never again be heard in the wild. All of the species audible in this piece—ten birds and two frogs—are now extinct. You are able to hear these sounds because the creatures that made them went extinct during the era of recorded sound; this is a unique moment in the history of human-driven extinction.

This sound installation was presented at the IMRC Center at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine, United States on May 3, 2018; this recorded excerpt of the same installation in the same space was made the following week on May 9.

The value of the existence of these recordings cannot be overstated. The recordings heard in this piece were generously provided by the following research institutions:

The Macaulay Library of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, http://www.birds.cornell.edu/.

The Amphibian Foundation, Atlanta GA, http://www.amphibianfoundation.org/.

Data on these species was drawn extensively from the International Union of the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2017-3. HTTP://www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed on 29 April 2018.

Many thanks to N. B. Aldrich and my colleagues in the University of Maine Intermedia MFA program.

Following is a catalog of the species heard in this piece:

Rabb’s Fringe-limbed Tree Frog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum)
range: Central Panama
extinct: September, 2016
recording: Mark Mandica, Atlanta, GA, December, 2014

Kaua’i ’O’o (Moho braccatus)
range: Island of Kaua’i, Hawaii, USA
extinct: Declared extinct by the IUCN in 2000; last reported in 1987.
recording: C. Fred Zeillemaker, Kaua’i, Hawaii, June 1975

Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis principalis)
range: South-eastern United States, Cuba
extinct: The IUCN lists the Ivory-billed Woodpecker as “possibly extinct”; last confirmed report was in 1944.
recording: Arthur A. Allen, Peter P. Kellogg, Louisiana, May, 1935

Po’o-uli (Melamprosops phaeosoma)
range: Maui, Hawaii
extinct: The IUCN lists the Po’o-uli as “possibly extinct”.
recording: H. Douglas Pratt, Maui, Hawii, July 1975

Kamao (Myadestes myadestinus)
range: Kaua’i, Hawaii
extinct: Declared extinct by the IUCN in 2004; ast reliable report was in 1985.
recordings: Robert J Shallenberger and H. Douglas Pratt, Kaua’i, Hawaii, July 1975

Golden Toad (Incilius periglenes)
range: Reserva Biológica Monteverde, Costa Rica
extinct: Declared extinct by the IUCN 2004; last reliable report was in 1989.
recording: Arnoud B. van den Berg, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, May, 1981

Guam Flycatcher (Myiagra freycineti)
range: Guam
extinct: Declared extinct by the IUCN in 1994.
recording: H. Douglas Pratt, Guam, August, 1978

O’ahu ’Alauahio (Paroreomyza maculata)
range: O’ahu, Hawaii
extinct: Listed as “critically endangered, possibly extinct” by the IUCN in 1994; last reliable observation was 1985.
recording: Timothy A. Burr, O’ahu, Hawii, date unknown

Atitlán Grebe (Podilymbus gigas)
range: Lake Atitlán, Guatemala
extinct: Listed as extinct by the IUCN in 1994; the species disappeared between 1983 and 1986.
recording: Anne LaBastille, Lake Atitlán shoreline, Sololá, Guatemala, May, 1963

’O’u (Psittirostra psittacea)
range: Formerly widespread across the islands of Hawaii
extinct: Listed as “critically endangered, possibly extinct” by the IUCN in 1994; last reliable observation was of two individuals in 1989.
recording: Robert J Shallenberger and H. Douglas Pratt, Kaua’i, Hawaii, July 1975

Cozumel Thrasher (Toxostoma guttatum)
range: Cozumel Island, Quintana Roo, Mexico
extinct: Listed as critically endangered by the IUCN in 2000; last reliable observation was possibly as recently as 2006.
recording: Andres M. Sada, Cozumel Island, Mexico, October, 1991

Bachman’s Warbler (Vermivora bachmanii)
range: South-eastern United States, Cuba
extinct: Listed as “critically endangered, possibly extinct” by the IUCN in 1994; has not been reported since 1988.
recording: G. Stuart Keith, South Carolina, May, 1959

Requiem (in memoriam twelve extinct species)

Requiem, in memoriam twelve extinct species

Recorded in late May, 2018. Springtime dawn chorus in Minnesota's Chippewa National Forest.

Dawn Chorus - Fiske Clearing

About a half-hour later than the previous track, below. Things change slightly throughout the morning.

Early Morning - Dishpan Ridge - B

Maine-based sound artist, composer & improvisor, Boston ex-patriot.

Requiem, in memoriam twelve extinct species

senorton

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