August Prairiesong – a podcast prototype sharing my early August visit to Taberville Prairie Conservation Area and Prairie State Park, both located in southwestern Missouri. © Lang Elliott.
I am thrilled to finish my latest podcast prototype. I think I’m definitely homing-in on a good style of delivery, especially when sharing actual adventures in the field.
August Prairiesong is a true-to-life recounting of my early August visit to Taberville Prairie Conservation Area and Prairie State Park, both being tallgrass prairie preserves located in southwestern Missouri. I wasn’t sure what I’d find happening in these prairie tracts so late in the summer, but I was pleasantly surprised … a variety of birds were still sounding off, the insect choruses were splendid, and I snagged some coyote as well. As you might remember, I shared some of these recordings in a previous blog post, entitled Journey Highlights #2 – Tallgrass Prairie.
Species Featured in this Podcast:
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Dickcissel
Henslow’s Sparrow
Northern Bobwhite
Scissor-Grinder Cicadas
Cope’s Gray Treefrog
Northern Mole Cricket
Coyote
Great-Horned Owl
Summer Tanager
Indigo Bunting
+ various other species heard in the backgrounds
Let me know what you think of my August Prairiesong podcast. It sure was fun to create, to remember my actual experience and bring it to you in podcast form.
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That was really interesting/enjoyable. I really like how you are making stories out of your times out in the field (no pun intended).
Yes, and can’t wait for my 2017 journey, when I plan to do on-location, off-the-cuff podcasting. A learning curve for sure, but I expect to settle on a technique soon after my journey begins in late February.
“Traffic from the nearby highway soon becomes annoying”, all too familiar with that statement where I am living now. I am so thankful for the undeveloped 7 acres of land next to me that allows me to enjoy sights and sounds of nature. Thanks to you, I am more aware of individual notes broadcasted through out the day but sadly, have been missing the hoots of owls I used to hear.
Dang traffic. Taberville Prairie is a great spot, except for the highway, which gets really busy soon after dawn. I once managed to record a seven minute soundscape at this location (at first light), totally free of traffic, but that was exceptional. Most of the time, I will only get a minute or two before another car zooms by.
I just found some peaceful time to listen to this. . Yours are the first podcasts I have ever listened to. This one is my favorite so far. Probably it’s because it is winter now and you paint such a beautiful scene. I can imagine the crunching of your shoes on dry grasses and seeing some of the sights and hearing. I don’t know if podcasts can be accompanied by slides but that would fill it all in. Thanks so much. I will be happy to donate towards your trip next year, although I doubt I would be a patron.
Susanne: Thank you for you comment. My comment notifying-system hasn’t been working, so I find I’m missing a lot of comments, unaware that they exist. My apology for that and my late response.
Enjoyed this so much, Lang!
Thank you Susan!
That treefrog certainly sounds different from the H.versicolor in PA. Is it a different species?
Now that you mention it, I believe they’re Copes Gray Treefrogs, Hyls chrysoscelis.
Thanks for noticing Gene. I’ve changed the narrative to ID them as Cope’s Gray Treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis).
Thank you for this enjoyable morning for me !…..I live in SE Kansas, near the Oklahoma border. It’s very quiet out this morning but reminds me of summer mornings in my beloved yard where a small stream glides past summer and winter. I make it a point to never harm one of God’s creatures that share my yard with me.
Phyllis: So you’re right their near tallgrass prairie. There’s the Flint Hills and in Oklahoma the Nature Conservancy’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. All within a stone’s throw, right?
p.s. Prairie State Park is just northeast of Pittsburg, KS. Have you been there?
That’s brilliant. Just the right balance of talking and sounds. And very nice to hear some birds on a gloomy November morning.
Thank you
Glad to hear that you like it Mark. I too rather like the balance, which is not easy to hit correctly. There’s still a learning curve when it comes to podcasting, which is a totally different beast than I’m used to working with.
Nicely done Lang! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank goodness we’ve had the wisdom to protect some of these prairie parcels. Where I live in Ontario – similar terrain to you in upstate New York, we have old meadows that host Bobolink, Meadowlark and, yes, even the very occasional Henslow’s sparrow. We are gradually losing them to forest succession. I’ll rue their passing.
On a more positive note have you considered doing a podcast of the late summer evening insect choruses of the Northeast? Common true katydids et al?
Don Scallen,
Georgetown Ontario
I will podcast about all my nature sound adventures if the format proves to be fairly popular (in the world of podcasts).