It is early summer … I am sitting next to a small, trickling brook in deep forest, celebrating the dawning of the day. Various songbirds soon chime in, including Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Veery, Blue Jay, and Dark-eyed Junco. What a tranquil and healing combination of natural sounds …
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Searching my collection for unused soundscapes, I came across this jewel: a lone American Robin singing at dusk with spring peepers chorusing in the background. This is a zen-infused recording, a simple yet profoundly moving soundscape that is at once relaxing and sublime …
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I rise at dawn on this fine winter morning and excitedly venture out in my yard to record bird sounds. It is chilly, 24F, with snow patches clinging to the ground. Our pond is frozen over, reflecting the rising sun. Though winter still has a firm hold, there is a surprising variety of bird sounds …
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Enjoy this beautiful summer dawn chorus from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. Listen for the songs of American Crow, Yellow-breasted Chat, Mourning Dove, Painted Bunting, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow, and crickets …
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As temperatures plummet here in upstate New York, I cannot help but dream of spring. Yesterday I stumbled upon a dawn chorus from May 31 in 2013, recorded at a beaver pond not far from where I live. When I listened to it, I was struck by its inherent beauty, by the sweetly balanced mix of frog and bird sounds as dawn unfolds …
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This morning I went out with one goal in mind: to get video footage of a singing Gray Catbird, silhouetted against the dawn sky. Was I successful? Judge for yourself …
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Of all backyard bird sounds, perhaps the least musical is the song of the Common Grackle. Check out this funny video of males giving their raspy squeaks as they lean forward and puff out their feathers …
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The Ruby-crowned Kinglet … a tiny avian jewel with a scarlet patch on its crown … is one of my favorite birds, primarily because of it’s sprightly cheerful song, a series of very high notes followed by a rambling jumble and ending with a silly-sounding chant …
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This morning, at the break of dawn, I recorded the croaks and yelps of a family of Common Ravens, nesting in a dense spruce stand at the edge of my yard …
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It’s mid-April and the woodpeckers are drumming like crazy. This morning, I headed to a nearby natural area at dawn and soon captured a nice video of a Downy Woodpecker, drumming from near the top of a dead snag …
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Once again the robins sing,
A hint of snow still on the bough.
Treetops all around me ring …
With gratefulness, I hear them now.
On a cold, snowy March morning, I videotaped a Wilson’s Snipe feeding along the edge of a small farm pond. I was mesmerized by his bobbing motion, as he poked his long bill into the mud in search of food …
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