Kalahari Soundscape 2023
I created this soundscape December 11-13, 2023 in the Kalahari, South Africa. Based on field recordings I made in the Kalahari from November 5 - December 13, 2023, the soundscape reflects the flow of  a Kalahari day, beginning as early as 3:00 when the Fork-tailed Drongo begins, tracking various other birds and animals as they begin to wake and sing, ending at night with the magical barking geckos.  This was an exceptionally hot and dry time even for the Kalahari, with almost no rain during South Africa’s spring season.  Daytime temperatures were well over 100 (Farhenheit).  How the inhabitants of this desert land respond to this extreme heat and draught is a story of coping, carnage, and sheer courage.  Not all animals survive, and those that do are forced to alter many of their life patterns for survival. However, the sounds of those who survive create a stunning symphony, at times stark and harsh, at other times melodic, mellow and hypnotic. Counterpoint was surely invented by barking geckos which proliferate throughout Kalahari!  Sounds overlap but contents of this soundscape are listed here:

0:00 Fork-tailed Drongo
0:06 Cape Turtle-dove chorus
0:13  Hoopoe
0:22 Kalahari Scrub-robin
0:32  Chestnut-vented Tit-babbler
0:54  Bulbul (who joins Tit-babbler for call and response)
1:10 Cape Turtle-dove (solo)
1:30 White-browed Sparrow-weaver
1:40 Sandgrouse - calls and flight sounds
1:43 Kalahari Scrub-robin
1:51  Northern Black Korhaan
1:57 Crimson-breasted Shike (single-pitched, perching calls)
2:02 Cape Crow
2:12  Black-backed Jackal
2:15  Barking Geckos
2:19  Lion
2:44 & 2:51 Spotted Eagle-owl
Outro: Barking Geckos

New tracks tagged #African animals