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, an elixir so pure. How careful we must be to keep our minds calm and quiet and our senses free of interference, so that we do not miss the extraordinary beauty that nature showers upon us.
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In mid-Apri, I visited Lost Maples State Natural Area in the Texas Hill Country. Shortly before dusk, I hiked to the Grotto, a drippy limestone bluff overhang located along a tributary of the Sabinal River. There I recorded the variable plops, plinks, splats and thunks of droplets landing in pools or on wet stones in the stream-bed below … while a pair of screech-owls added their musical trills to the magic of the night.
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At first light, I hike into Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park. Gusty wind blows through a dense thicket of stiff reeds, producing a plethora of snaps, crackles and pops. Frolicking ravens croak repeatedly as they fly up and down the Rio Grande River, their calls echoing off the steep cliffs above. Such a pleasing, enveloping mix of the sounds of the wind, ravens and reeds!
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Happy New Year 2021! After nearly a year of ignoring my blog (a break I sorely needed), I’m jumping back into it, with the goal of posting regularly in the weeks and months to come. To commemorate the new year with nature sounds, I spent a number of hours attempting to record light rain falling in an oak woods, the raindrops splatting against compressed leaves and patches of snow. Altogether I’m quite happy with the result …
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Enjoy this gentle recording of a gurgling brook with subtle bird songs in the background, recorded by yours truly in deep forest among the rolling hills near Ithaca, New York.
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