Sound By Nature

Latest Episodes:

130: Early Spring Morning Beside McArthur Swamp Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

This was recorded on a cold morning in early spring beside McArthur swamp in Shasta County, California. Located just south of the rural town of McArthur, the McArthur Swamp provides important habitat for migratory waterfowl and other birds traveling the Pacific Flyway.

The recording starts in the early morning beneath the stars as light just began to build on the eastern horizon, and continues well past sunrise. You will hear numerous bird species including Snow Geese, Greater White Fronted Geese, Canada Geese, Sandhill Cranes, a variety of ducks, songbirds, and more. Listen for the sudden whoosh of hundreds of Snow Geese taking flight all at once, the gentle splashing of ducks and geese moving around in the water close by, the song of the Marsh Wren, and the wing sounds of ducks flying past. I recommend using headphones for the best listening experience. You will also hear distant sounds of the highway and other man made noise, and of course air traffic, which is unavoidable on a recording of this length at this location or just about anywhere in the state.

I could really use your support. Please consider helping this podcast get made by making a donation, becoming a Patreon supporter, or becoming a monthly supporter through Anchor. You can do so by visiting the following links-

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You can become a monthly supporter at Anchor by clicking the link at the end of this podcast description.

Thank you to my current and past monthly supporters, those of you that have made one time donations, and my supporters on Patreon. I truly appreciate your help!

You can see pictures of the area this was recorded, as well as pictures from other locations I have gathered recordings, by visiting the Instagram and Facebook pages for the podcast. You can find them by searching @soundbynaturepodcast.

Questions or comments? Send me a message on Facebook or Instagram, or email me at soundbynaturepodcast@gmail.com

I really hope you enjoy this recording, thank you very much for listening. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay sound.

Bonus! Sacramento River Bend Area- Afternoon Birdsong On Blue Oak Savannah Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

This was recorded on a cool spring afternoon at the Sacramento River Bend Area in Tehama County, California. The area is administered by the Bureau of Land Management and is located along a large bend of the Sacramento River in the Sacramento Valley, which is the portion of the Central Valley of California that lies north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

It was my first time visiting the area, and I was hopeful that it would be a good place for sound recording. Though I did bring my recording gear, this visit was really a scouting trip to check out the area and hopefully find some good places to record in the future. It's a beautiful landscape of rolling hills covered in blue oak savannah, with lush riparian habitat along the river and creeks. With the abundance of precipitation we have received this winter, the area was saturated and every possible feature of the landscape that could carry water was doing so. Birds were singing, water was flowing, wildflowers were blooming, fresh green grass was growing, and the oak trees were just beginning to leaf out; it was an absolutely beautiful spring day.

There was an unfortunate amount of air traffic and other noise pollution, but I did manage to get this recording of Western Meadowlarks, Mourning Doves, and other birds in the oak savannah during the afternoon. I look forward to returning soon and trying to capture a dawn chorus, the sound of the river, and the sounds of the many seasonal streams.

Full disclosure- I did have to use a pretty aggressive high pass filter on this recording to remove low frequency noise pollution. Though this was recorded during a short break between passing aircraft, there was still too much noise pollution to make for a pleasant listen, and the filter didn't affect the subject of this recording, which is the birds, so I thought it would be okay. I hope you don't mind.

Bonus! Spring Equinox Beside Tule River Trail Mar 21, 2023

Show notes

This was recorded on the Spring Equinox beside the Tule River Trail, near Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park, in Shasta County, California. It was a cold and windy day, and I put the microphone in one of the few places in the area that was sheltered from the wind, which was in the tules growing along the waters edge below the levee atop which the trail runs. It wasn't a perfectly sheltered spot, but far better than if the microphone was out in the open. There was an abundance of migrating geese and other waterfowl in the area, as well as Sandhill Cranes, and though unfortunately the strong wind prevented me from placing the microphone in the best place to capture their sounds, I still managed to get some good flybys which I edited together for this bonus episode. You'll also hear the rustling of the dry tules in the wind, and fish surfacing in the water.

129: Late Winter Afternoon Beside Squaw Valley Creek Mar 19, 2023

Show notes

This was recorded on a sunny afternoon in late winter beside Squaw Valley Creek in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California.

I recorded this on the same day as the previous episode at a spot beside the creek where the water was rushing over a large rock, which created a continuous deep glugging sound. The rock over which the water was rushing was just big enough, and the water was flowing just fast enough, that it created a hollow space on the downstream side which(I am no expert in fluid dynamics or acoustics, so this is pure speculation on my part) acted as a resonance chamber to produce the deep, low frequency sound you hear in this recording. I recommend that you listen with a good pair of headphones if you can.

https://soundbynaturepodcast.com/donations/

https://www.patreon.com/soundbynaturepodcast

You can become a monthly supporter at Anchor by clicking the link at the end of this podcast description.

Thank you to my current and past monthly supporters, those of you that have made one time donations, and my supporters on Patreon. I truly appreciate your help!

Questions or comments? Send me a message on Facebook or Instagram, or email me at soundbynaturepodcast@gmail.com

I hope you enjoy this recording, thank you very much for listening. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay sound.

128: Late Winter Morning Beside Squaw Valley Creek Mar 18, 2023

Show notes

This recording was gathered on a clear and sunny late winter morning beside Squaw Valley Creek in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. The creek was flowing swiftly from snowmelt and recent rain, which was a welcome sight to see after the past couple years of severe drought.

I placed the microphone at spot beside creek with some large rocks sticking up out of the water, in the hope of capturing the song of the American Dipper, which is a small bird that feeds on invertebrates beneath the water of rocky, fast moving streams, creeks, and rivers. One of the rocks had a few droppings on it, so I knew that they were in the area. Luckily while I was setting up the recording rig a Dipper flew in, perched atop a rock, and watched me curiously as I set up. You'll hear it's song over the rush of the water a few times on this recording, as well as the brash calls of the Steller's Jay.

https://soundbynaturepodcast.com/donations/

https://www.patreon.com/soundbynaturepodcast

You can become a monthly supporter at Anchor by clicking the link at the end of this podcast description.

Thank you to my current and past monthly supporters, those of you that have made one time donations, and my supporters on Patreon. I truly appreciate your help!

Questions or comments? Send me a message on Facebook or Instagram, or email me at soundbynaturepodcast@gmail.com

I hope this recording provides you with a little relief from the chaos of the world. Thank you very much for listening. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay sound.

127: Winter On The Redwood Coast Feb 21, 2023

Show notes

This was recorded at low tide during the new moon on a rocky beach in Redwood National Park, Del Norte County, California. The tide was extremely low and the microphone was placed in the intertidal zone between boulders at the base of a massive, towering rock. The roar of strong wind, rough seas, and huge surf is heard in the background as the waves, which weaved their way through the many rocks and reefs farther out, crash and splash against the boulder strewn shore.

I made this recording while on an unplanned and impromptu day trip to the coast with my daughter. I had originally planned to record the sound of wintering waterfowl at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, but at Lower Klamath NWR the only area with water and birds was right beside the highway, and Tule Lake was completely dry and devoid of any waterfowl. The years long drought we have been experiencing here in Northern California has been devastating, and despite a decent amount of snow and rain at the start of winter, the precipitation didn't keep up. And even if it did, it will take several very wet years to replenish these areas which are crucial to wintering and migratory waterfowl and the predatory birds and wildlife which depend on them. All that said, my daughter and I decided to make the long drive from there to the coast, and we were lucky to arrive during one of the lowest tides of the year. It was a rare sunny day and we took a little hike down the Coastal Trail from the Lagoon Creek to a rocky cove(where I made this recording) and watched the sunset.

https://soundbynaturepodcast.com/donations/

https://www.patreon.com/soundbynaturepodcast

You can become a monthly supporter at Anchor by clicking the link at the end of this podcast description.

Thank you to my current and past monthly supporters, those of you that have made one time donations, and my supporters on Patreon. I truly appreciate your help!

Questions or comments? Send me a message on Facebook or Instagram, or email me at soundbynaturepodcast@gmail.com

I really hope you enjoy this recording. Thank you very much for listening. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay sound.

Bonus! Graupel And Snow Falling On A Tarp Feb 19, 2023

Show notes

I recorded this on my recent three night snow camping trip near Moosehead Creek in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. I made my campsite by digging a pit in the snow and building short walls around it, which I then covered with a nylon tarp. On the final night of my trip, graupel showers started falling, then transitioned to snow. This episode consists of two recordings I made in my campsite under the tarp that night, the first part is a heavy graupel shower that passed through, the second part is a snow shower with a little graupel mixed in for a bit, then ends with steady snowfall. Each part is about seventeen minutes long, and I faded them together for a seamless transition.

You might be wondering, what is graupel? Graupel is formed when snowflakes pass through supercooled water droplets as they fall. The supercooled water droplets freeze on contact, and then accumulate on the snowflake as they fall and become very tiny snowballs. Graupel is sometimes referred to as soft hail, and it falls much faster than snow, which is why it makes so much noise when it hits the tarp.

126: Woodpeckers On A Winter Morning Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

This was recorded on a cold, cloudy, and breezy morning in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. There was a small group of dead standing Red Fir trees not far from my campsite that a pair of Downy Woodpeckers were busily pecking at looking for insects beneath the bark. Mountain Chickadees and Red Breasted Nuthatches can be heard in the background, and a pair of curious Ravens fly by to see what all the ruckus is about.

https://soundbynaturepodcast.com/donations/

https://www.patreon.com/soundbynaturepodcast

You can become a monthly supporter at Anchor by clicking the link at the end of this podcast description.

Thank you to my current and past monthly supporters, those of you that have made one time donations, and my supporters on Patreon. I truly appreciate your help!

Questions or comments? Send me a message on Facebook or Instagram, or email me at soundbynaturepodcast@gmail.com

I hope you enjoy this recording. Thank you for listening. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay sound.

125: Winter Afternoon Beside Moosehead Creek Feb 14, 2023

Show notes

I gathered this recording beside Moosehead Creek in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. It was a clear and sunny afternoon with light to moderate wind blowing through the trees. Deep snow covered the ground and much of the creek, though some stretches were exposed at the bottom of deep channels which had formed in the snow above the creek and allowed the sound of trickling water and dripping snowmelt to be heard from above. The occasional splash is heard from small chunks of snow falling from the overhanging edges of the channel into the creek.

This recording is one of several I made while on a three night camping trip to the Walking Bear Camp area of Moosehead Creek. Unfortunately during my stay there was an abundance of air traffic. This hour long segment is the best hour out of five I recorded at this location on that afternoon, with the rest of the recording having frequent loud air traffic, both jets and small aircraft, passing close by and directly overhead. Though this hour does have more air traffic than I prefer, I thought it wasn't so bad that I couldn't share it with you. I hope you don't find it too distracting.

https://soundbynaturepodcast.com/donations/

https://www.patreon.com/soundbynaturepodcast

You can become a monthly supporter at Anchor by clicking the link at the end of this podcast description.

Thank you to my current and past monthly supporters, those of you that have made one time donations, and my supporters on Patreon. I truly appreciate your help!

Questions or comments? Send me a message on Facebook or Instagram, or email me at soundbynaturepodcast@gmail.com

I really hope that this recording provides you with a brief respite from the many stresses of the world. Thank you for listening. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay sound.

124: Binaural Nature Walk- Winter On The Pacific Crest Trail- Butcherknife Creek To Water Strider Creek Jan 29, 2023

Show notes

This was recorded on a cool and clear winter day while walking on the Pacific Crest Trail in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. The recording starts beside Butcherknife Creek, then follows the trail north to Water Strider Creek. The trail starts off covered in snow, which becomes increasingly patchy, then passes over mostly bare forest floor. It crosses a small stream and a creek as it winds it's way in and out of shady gullies through dense coniferous forest.

I made this recording on the same day I recorded the previous episode. I set up a microphone beside Water Strider Creek, and while it recorded I hiked south to Butcherknife Creek, then made this recording on my way back. It was a beautiful day and I was very happy to get two recordings to share with you. I hope you enjoy them both!

https://soundbynaturepodcast.com/donations/

https://www.patreon.com/soundbynaturepodcast

You can become a monthly supporter at Anchor by clicking the link at the end of this podcast description.

Thank you to my current and past monthly supporters, those of you that have made one time donations, and my supporters on Patreon. I truly appreciate your help!

Questions or comments? Send me a message on Facebook or Instagram, or email me at soundbynaturepodcast@gmail.com

I really hope you enjoy this recording. Thank you for listening. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay sound.

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