Hey everyone! The spring field season is almost upon me and I won’t be able to continue posting regularly beyond the end of March – I figured I’d better warn you. However, I hope to blog regularly during my journeys, perhaps every two days or so.

My first adventure will be spending 10-12 days in the Smoky Mountains in mid-April. Ted Mack will accompany me. We’re going to enjoy the wildflowers and some early spring soundscapes. After that, I’ll be heading up to the Canadian northwoods to record Loons. Finally, when June rolls around, I plan to drive all the way to the Rocky Mountains for more exciting adventures.

—————————————

I captured today’s recording, Adirondack Brook, way back in 1995 in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I set my microphone next to a small creek where the water made hollow gurgles as it passed over stones. A Northern Parula sang it’s buzzy zeeeeee-up! from a maple tree overhead. White-throated Sparrows were abundant, giving pure tone whistles from pines and firs. A Canada Warbler added its choppy notes to the mix and Ruby-crowned Kinglet topped things off with his spirited melody. Listen also for the chatter of a Red Squirrel and the hum of bees:

Gurgling water with Northern Parula, White-throated Sparrow, Canada Warbler, & Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 6:15am, 13 June 1995. Adirondack Mtns., Paul Smiths, NY. Recorded by Lang Elliott.

This soundscape recording could easily be categorized as “species portrait” because it emphasizes the song of the Northern Parula. Do you like it? I worked really hard to make it usable. Apparently, one microphone was going bad and it produced some high pitch tones that I’ve tried to eliminate. There were other problems as well, such as a lot of high frequency hiss in the bad channel, but I think I did a fairly good job resolving everything. Let me know what you think? Does this recording sound good to you? I really like it.