Many of these recordings are from my "backyard" so to speak -- which happens to abut Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve; others are from various places in my bio-region VA (especially NoVA), DC, & MD.

To learn more about a particular recording, you can click on the title of the track that interests you.

To learn the back story about sound recording in my region, see the following post from my personal blog, Wild Around Us: https://wordpress.com/view/wildaroundus.wordpress.com


Many more of my sound recordings (birds in particular) can be found in the Macaulay Library, at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?view=List&mediaType=a&sort=rating_rank_desc&searchField=user&userId=USER348364&q=Laura%20Sebastianelli   

Please feel free to comment on any recording that speaks to you! Thanks for listening!

Backyard & about

2 Wood Thrush on the Hemlock Trail  at Sieur de Monts 

061122 440am 1127

Wood Thrush on the Hemlock Trail -- Acadia National Park

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse 062422 7am 1252

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse -- Acadia National Park

Thunder Hole a little less than an hour after low tide.






file: Thunder Hole Rev 062622 445am 1269

Thunder Hole -- Acadia National Park

incoming tide, 3+ hours before high tide


062622 704pm 1281

Cobblestones & waves at Little Hunters Beach -- Acadia National Park

Today was my first day using a binaural microphone. I recorded Snow Geese at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Dorchester County, MD. Be sure to use headphones to get the directional effects. 

I uploaded this, as I do most of my recordings, to Cornell's Macaulay Library (Lab of Ornithology) but since binaural and stereo recordings are not supported, I wanted to upload it to here as well. 

Here are the media notes for the recording (ML525286581)

A group of approximately 500 Snow Geese were calling, and then explode into flight at about 44 sec into the recording. You can hear their wings beating collectively & then voices rise together -- eventually they settle back down on the water in about the same spot. (In the distance behind me, and near the Visitor Center, branches were being cut and chipped; disappointingly, it is slightly audible.)

SNGO 011723 315pm 037 Rev

Snow Geese -- a binaural recording

This is a binaural recording. If you want an immersive & directional sound experience, please use headphones. 

Just before 7am about 1000 Snow Geese irrupted in flight. At the 3 second mark begins the sound of their wings exploding into flight, then their voices rise together. They flew from the impoundments near the Visitor Center, over me (on Wildlife Drive), and eventually landing & settling in the Blackwater River. This was predator evasion behavior. A Bald Eagle can be heard making 6 calls later in the recording beginning at 2 min 19 seconds. Weather: Low to mid-40s. Overcast.

Jan 30, 2023 @7am. Low to mid-40s. Overcast. Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Dorchester County, MD.

Other birds vocalizing include Tundra Swans, Ring-billed Gulls, Mallards, Red-wing Blackbirds.

Equipment: Sound Devices Mix Pre-3 II recorder, and 3DIO Binaural microphone, 

file SNGO 013023 704am 059 short rev

(Image by Judy Gallagher CC 2.0 by Attribution, link follows: https://www.flickr.com/photos/52450054@N04/50064106942)

Snow Geese & Bald Eagle at Dawn at Blackwater NWR

Carolina Wren just outside the window in the oak tree about 15 feet away. 

04/08/14 9:30am

Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME-66, fade-in/fade-out with Audacity.

Carolina Wren

River Towers 4ish am Frogs

I just had an opportunity to put a new-to me/used BLIMP wind shield to the test.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler and 33mph wind gusts were recorded at the summit of Cadillac Mountain May 19, 2023 at 9:44am. No filters were applied, just a 2s fade-in and fade-out to ease into the listen.

While the Sound Devices Mix Pre-3 II has a 32-bit float, this recording was achieved with the Sennheiser MZW 60-1 Blimp Wind Shield. I could get rid of a little bit of the wind noise by using a high pass filter but I wanted to hear it without the filter. Not bad.

Wind & Warbler via Blimp

I started recording a Bay Breasted Warbler -- it was pretty much me and him in a nice gentle breeze on the Carriage Trail near Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park-- when suddenly the air waves quickly filled with many more species: Northern Flicker, Black Capped Chickadee, Black-throated Green Warbler, Oven Bird, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Common Loon(!), Humans (beeping their car horn, and later on, riding by on bicycles), Red-Breasted Nuthatch(doing it's fast song). Too much and not enough.

Too much. Not enough.

This is a binaural recording (best listened to with headphones)of at least 3 Wood Thrush singing. Recorded at 8:14am on 8/6/2023 at Bolingbroke Park, Izak Walton League of America, Maryland Mid-shore Chapter), in Trappe. 

Partial recording. Full recording: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/600882911

WOTH 080623 814am 696

Photo by Laura Gooch (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

3 Wood Thrush Singing

Tremolos and hoots of Common Loons in rain and thunder storm




COLO storm 444pm 322 LOON_20230705_1
image by L Sebastianelli 2010.

Loons in rain and thunder storm

A single Eastern American Toad (the long trilling sound) recorded at 9:20pm on April 30, 2015 on west Dyke Marsh behind River Towers (left of beaver lodge). 70 degrees. light breeze. Can also hear Green Frog(s) in the background (sounds like a plucked rubber band). 

Recorded with Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME 62, Telinga parabala. Edited in Audacity: amplified, fade in/out, high pass filter to reduce sound of cars, trains, and planes.

Eastern American Toad 9:20pm Apr 30 2015

American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus). The bullfrogs in west Dyke Marsh starting calling tonight, only a few, so far(and not yet in the synchronized rising and falling chorus that they do when they really get going in the breeding season). A Green Frog can be heard after the Bullfrog -- the plucked rubber band sound.

Recorded Tuesday May 5th, at 10:30pm, 68 degrees. Earlier in evening it had rained for a couple of hours; 6-8pm. Recorded with Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME62, Telinga Parabola. Edited in Audacity: fade in/out only. Image of Bullfrog was taken on April 21, 2015 -- also in west Dyke Marsh.

American Bullfrog

Probably a Cope's...given location; but not 100% certain. Recorded June 20, 2015 west Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA in RT's community garden at 11PM with iPhone 6. 73 degrees and raining. 

Edited in Audacity (shortened) and a high pass filter.

Gray Tree Frog

This was recorded on August 8th, 2011 via iPhone at 2:09 AM in a light misty rain at Lean-To #12 at South Branch Pond in Baxter State Park.  Within earshot were three frogs calling. This recording is from a 14 min recording edited in Audacity, adding gain. The Mink Frog is only found in the Northern latitudes. Approximate GPS is Latitude: 46-05'17'' N, Longitude: 068-53'41'' W.  This is my first recording with the iPhone using just the built-in mic. Best listened with earphones or headphones to differentiate individuals.
(taxonomy:binomial="Lithobates septentrionalis")

Mink Frog (Lithobates septentrionalis)

Many Common True Katydids singing on July 23, 2015 at 10:05PM (75 degrees)in Picnic Grove of River Towers Condos alongside of west Dyke Marsh. Heard in background: Spring or Fall Crickets, distant air plane, and car traffic on GWMP.

Recorded with Fostex Fr-2, Sennheiser ME-62, and Telinga Parabola. Edited length in Audacity, and fade in/out.

Chorus Common True Katydids 072315 1005pm

Great Horned Owl calling from forest at Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, MD on September 8, 2015 at 8:18pm. 

Temperature @ 80 degrees. 

Recorded with Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME-62, and Telinga Parabola.

Photo by Susan Rachlan, USFWS, 2006, Creative Commons, via Flickr.


Great Horned Owl (female?)

Pre-dawn: Beavers chewing (later swimming), Great Horned Owl hooting, and a few mallard ducks quacking. Anthropogenic noise: truck with "jake brakes" and possibly a ship on the Potomac River.

Recorded at 4:15am Dec 23, 2015 in Dyke Marsh from board walk on Mt Vernon trail, facing east. Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME62 and Telinga parabola. Edited in audacity: amplified, fade in/out.

Beaver Chewing & Owl Hooting

Great Horned Owl calling (with headphones you may also hear a distant Great Horned Owl). Mallards and some other unidentified birds in background. Anthropogenic noise: Ship on Potomac (?) and?or distant traffic(?).

Recorded about 4am Dec 23, 2015. Fostex FR-2, Sennhieser ME62, Telinga parabola. Edited in Audacity: Amplified, fade in/out.

Great Horned Owl

Carolina Wren in Dyke Marsh (flooded forest alongside channel). Mallard Duck in background as well as oak leaves rustling in the wind. A friend, Brian Wilson, says: "repeated note of a cardinal in the background, too—most apparent at about the 1:00 mark—and what sounds like a White-throated Sparrow at about :50." Anthropogenic noise: cars on NPS George Washington Memorial Parkway. 

Recorded about 8:30am January 10, 2016 with Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME62, Telinga Parabola. Edited in Audacity, Fade in/out.

image taken last year, March 8, 2015

A Great Horned Owl was calling for over an hour near west Dyke Marsh. This was recorded about 2:20am on Tuesday, February 16, 2016. Temperatures just above freezing (I could hear snow and ice falling off branches --sometimes sounding like gun shot). 

Recorded with Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME 62, Telinga Parabola. Edited in Audacity; amplified, high pass filter, fade in/out. 

Image taken Mon morning, Feb 15, 2016

mid-Febraury calling of Great Horned Owl

TWO Spring Peepers recorded at River Towers Community Garden in Alexandria, VA. (Last year, only one called for about 6 weeks.) And bonus -- a Great Horned Owl calling in the backgroud (at West Grove Park.) There is some traffic noise in background as well.

Recorded March 16, 2016 at 9:21pm (61 degrees) with Fostex FR2, Sennheiser ME62, and Telinga Parabola. Edited in Audacity: fade in/out.

Image taken morning of 3/16/2016 in west Dyke Marsh -- which abuts the River Towers Community Garden.

SpringPeeper VA FriendsOfDykeMarshFrogWatch LSebastianelli 20160316

Recorded shortly before 11:30pm April 20, 2016 in west Dyke Marsh with Fostex FR2, Sennheiser ME62, Telinga Parabola. About 25 hours short of a Full Moon, mainly clear skies, 56 degrees. Edited in Audacity from 8+min recording, fade in/out, minimal high filter pass (150). Background noise includes cars on NPS George Washington Memorial Parkway, recordist's handling noise, and curious neighbor(s) opening a windows/doors(?). Image taken in 2013.

Barred Owls

Recorded May 23, 2016 at 9:20pm at Fort Hunt (part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.  I think they were calling from a deep drainage ditch near the road). It was 73 degrees, clear skies, last rain perhaps 24 hours ago. You can hear the "regular" call and another called by researchers to be the "aggressive call" which sounds somewhat like an oink! (You can also hear distant airplanes flying above.)

Fostex FR-2, Sennheiser ME-62, and Telinga Parabola

Image taken in 2014.

Cope's Gray Treefrogs

Spring Peepers calling despite their habitat having been recently mowed down (cattails, grasses). Traffic noises in background from Fort Hunt Rd. Alexandria, VA.

Recorded 032717 at 8:06pm with iPhone 6+ using Rode Recording app.

Spring Peeper at Belle View ES 032717

Swainson's Thrush singing

Wednesday June 7, 2017 7:15 pm
temperature low 50s
clear skies
between the tides

Sun Dew Trail where it intersects with trail to Ocean Beach
Schoodic Pennisula
Acadia National Park
Winter Harbor, ME

Fostex FR2
Sennheister ME 66 short shotgun
trimmed and normalized to Best Practices in Audacity
and because of surf noise -- high pass filter at 250 hz

B19h15m23s07jun2017y.wav

Swainson's Thrush 060717 715pm

This is a just a short portion of the dawn chorus atop Schoodic Head at the Overlook (about 420 ft above sea level), specifically listening to sounds that are new to me from a pair of nighthawks in courtship. After a wing boom and peenting, one of them landed on the rock ledge about 20-25 ft away from me, and began making a repetitive low frequency sound (800-1600hz) that is sort of froglike "Aueerer". During this time the other landed next to it. There is some hopping around and wing flapping& flailing as they move around (courtship for sure but unsure if they are mating or attempting to mate -- though that would be my guess) and then some soft "clucking" noises before a loud (and startling peent!) at which point they depart and the peeting and wing booming starts again (the latter not included -- nor the father-of-all wings booms which preceeded this activity). 

Partly Cloudy
56 deegrees, zero wind

Fostex FR2
Sennheiser ME 62 Omni mic

trimmed and leveled (-.10) in Audacity
Spectrogram created in Adobe Audition -- represents all sounds discussed (plus other bird species like Swainson's Thrush and Dark-eyed Junco).

B03h51m21s23jun2017y

Common Nighthawk courtship 062317 351am

Recorded on no name trail across from Frazer Pt, Schoodic Division, Acadia National Park. 

Fostex Fr2, Sennheiser ME 64
Sunny 61 degree, 7 mph winds

Trimmed, leveled, and hpf according to best practices
Spectrogram created in Adobe Audition

Northern Parula Trmd Lvld Hpf B06h41m21s25jun2017y

Northern Parula 062517 641am

Northern Saw-whet Owl, Common Nighthawk, Spring Peepers. Also White-throated Sparrow, and Green Frogs, Gray Tree Frogs.

Schoodic Peninsula, Acadia National Park, Maine

Fostex FR-2
Sennheiser ME62
NSWO & CONI B20h34m47s08jun2018y

Saw-whet Owl, Nighthawk, & Peepers

This is not the original file, or the edited file according to ML Best Practices. I did some additional noise reduction because of the terrible wind that day. But I was excited to learn this is a Broad-winged Hawk calling at North Corea Heath.  

Marantz PMD561, Sennheiser ME62, Telinga Parabola

061918 0649to54 1031

Broad-winged Hawk

Recorded at Belle View Elementary School at 11:57pm, March 28, 2019

B23h57m52s28mar2019y

Spring Peepers

recorded in west Dyke Marsh while Red-shouldered Hawk was in flight at 11:22am, April 13, 2019

B11h22m43s13apr2019y

Red-shouldered Hawk

Eastern Towhee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus, west Dyke Marsh


B09h49m14s14apr2019y

Eastern Towhee

These are 3 sets of highlights from a 1.5 hour recording of a pair of Fish Crows (Corvus ossifragus)who are nesting in west Dyke Marsh. One was in the nest and the other in a nearby tree.  You can hear it moving in the tree -- once landing, other times moving around in leaves, once it sounded like it might be flapping its wings in the leaves). 

There are a couple of interesting vocalizations a rattle, and a couple of times a softer call (slightly reminiscent of Raven but way less warbly). 

FICR In Nest Edited B07h13m29s01jun2019y

Fish Crow in Nest

Columbia Falls, Maine

EWPW 1002 061219 1022pm

Eastern Whip-poor-will 061219

A pair of Red Foxes mating (heard and seen) at the edge of the west Dyke Marsh & River Towers Condominiums, Alexandria, VA.  

Recorded at 10:06pm, March 6, 2020. 






1014 030620 1006pm

Red Foxes Mating

tree frogs have been getting very vocal lately. here they are over the peepers, and some geen frogs. recorded May 29, 2013 around 10pm with a fostex fr-2, sennheiser me-66. edited in audacity. spectrogram created in Raven Pro.

Gray Treefrogs, Spring Peepers, and Green Frogs

Lucky me! A Common Raven landed in a tree above me just as I began to try to record a woodpecker (not included in this section). This is from the first 4 minutes. If you only have time for some of this recording, skip to the "KNOCKING" calls that start at 2 minutes into the recording! These are calls apparently only made by dominant females. AMAZING! This was recorded at the Yuba Pass in the Tahoe National Forest in California. Recorded June 10, 2013 with a Fostex FR-2 and Senneheiser ME 66. Edited in Audacity.

Knocking Common Raven -- Yuba Pass, Tahoe National Forest, CA

THIS is what a groundhog says...easy to see why the predictions are often off. It is not an easy language to translate!

More about this sound recording  here: https://schoodicnotes.blog/2020/02/02/ever-listen-to-a-groundhog/

Translating #Groundhog. It's not easy!

This was a Barred Owl recorded at home at 9:40 PM with Fostex FR-2 recorder and Sennheiser ME 66. You can hear Gray Tree Frogs and Green Frogs in the background  (in the wetland) and a light rain was falling.

Edited with Audacity.

Barred Owl, Green Frogs, Gray Tree frogs, & Light Rain

I am naturalist, ecological educator, sound recordist, citizen scientist, and active community member living near Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve in Alexandria, VA. More here: https://wildaroundus.wordpress.com/ and https://soundsofschoodic.wordpress.com/

Laura Sebastianelli

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