The Music of Nature Blog
Hi Friends! Welcome to my Music of Nature blog, an ever-growing collection of free online articles, place-based celebrations, audio postcards, photo and video studies, musings and more ... all created in celebration of the voices of the natural world.
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Binaural Soundscapes | Podcasts | Videos | Birds | Mammals | Amphibians | Reptiles | Insects | Ramblings | Miscellaneous
Prairie Riparian Mystery Sound
PLEASE HELP ME IDENTIFY THIS MYSTERY SOUND! I recorded this rather amazing vocalization made by an unknown animal (presumably a mammal) in the American Prairie Preserve in Montana. At dusk, I set my microphone near the edge of Second Creek, just sou…
Kentucky Swamp
At dusk, we visit a lakeside swamp in Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky. The scene is exquisite, with a white-tailed deer silhouetted against the red sky. As darkness descends, we make our way to a swampy area next to a lake and are shocked by the num…
Mountain Brook Nightscape
In early July, I camp at the bottom of Shinagin Hollow in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, a short distance from a small mountain brook. Around midnight, I am awakened by a distant barred owl that screams and hoots from the other side of …
Gentle Musical Lakeshore Waves
During an autumn trip to Lake Ontario in 2025, I was fortunate to encounter an evening of very calm wave action. Small swells rolled in, each lapping gently against round stones and producing an astounding variety of delicate, musical plinks, plops a…
Mole Salamanders Now Migrating and Mating 2026
ALERT! The mole salamander mating season has begun here in upstate New York. Last night there was a significant movement of both Jefferson and Spotted Salamanders.
Querulous Grebes with Owl, Grouse, and Sparrows
With some difficulty, I make my way to the remote Raab Lake in the Turtle Mountains, along the border between North Dakota and Canada. The lake is nearly a mile long. All through the night, I hear the reverberant calls of red-necked grebes, but far i…
Beaver Moans and Cave Drip
While visiting Round Spring State Park in the Missouri Ozarks, I discover a beaver den (or possibly just a food stash) hidden within a cavern that drains the spring. Fortunately, I was able to place my soundscape mic well within the cavern and record…
Gator Song
In the middle of the night, along the Anhinga Trail boardwalk in the Everglades, I hear the gentle purring of crickets, a distant chorus of frogs, random splashes and pops, and chuck-will’s-widows chanting their night-songs. Then, quite suddenly, a…
Midsummer Thrush Music – Dawn and Dusk
After restful sleep, I suddenly awakened at 4am with my inner voice demanding me in no uncertain terms to head out to Shindagin Hollow, my most treasured and favorite natural area here in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York. This was not a pl…
Celestial Music?
In early July of 2016, I recorded Hermit Thrushes and White-throated Sparrows singing at first light at Spring Pond Bog, a Nature Conservancy Preserve located in the Adirondack Mountains. I was disappointed with the recording for reasons I will expla…
Thrush Dripscape
It is dawn in midsummer after a night of rain. Drip falls from the treetops, splatting against leaves and the ground. Wood Thrushes sound off in the distance and a lone cricket trills. Such an exalted mix, a magical elixir that helps calm one’s mind.
Wild Burros of Picacho (with Coyote Finale)
In early April, we travel to the remote Picacho State Recreation Area located along the Colorado River, about 25 miles north of Yuma Arizona. We camp next to Taylor Lake, which is edged with cattail marshes. At night, wild burros sound off, their whi…
Coyote Reverberations
It is late summer in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York. As night unfolds, crickets trill, their songs mesmerizing and tranquil. Then, without warning, Coyotes howl and yip, their reverberant echos reaching out in all directions. Exhilaratin…
Adirondack Coyote Song
Last week, I went on a brief camping trip to the Adirondack Mountains with my friend Beth Bannister. Late summer is a quiet time in the Northwoods, so our expectations were low. Although we had bad luck at first, something wonderful happened during t…
Catbird Night Song Reborn
In late May of 1991, I came upon a gray catbird singing at night under a full moon, with bullfrogs and green frogs sounding off in the background. I documented the event with my parabolic microphone, which, unfortunately, was a single-mic setup that …
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