Hoots of Barred Owls at night. 20 May 2016, 11pm, Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area near Ithaca, New York. © Lang Elliott. Please play at a moderate to low volume for the most natural listening experience.
Direct link to MP3 if above player doesn’t work.
Everyone loves owls. On the night of May 20 with the moon nearly full, I drove to a nearby wildlife refuge in search of Gray Treefrogs. The frogs weren’t calling, but at one location I witnessed an amazing performance by what I presumed to be a “family” of Barred Owls. How lucky can you get?
For minutes on end they hooted, sometimes just single individuals and at other times two or more sounding off in concert. While I generally want the owls to come closer for a more compelling recording, in this case I found the more distant hoots to be the most pleasurable because of how they echoed magically across the forested landscape.
I’m sure glad I stopped at that particular spot and was able to document all the hooting, with only Spring Peepers sounding off in the background (thank goodness a jet didn’t fly over in the middle of it all). This is among my favorites for its meditative effect.
Let me know what you think of this recording. Spring Peepers too loud? I can always lower them a tad, if you guys think it is the right thing to do.
NOTE: This recording has been edited to remove loud pings from my car (given as it cooled down) and to smooth out the volume of the spring peepers (I had to move three or four times to reduce the volume of the peepers, which was overwhelming at first). Although edited, the recording faithfully conveys the resonant hoots of the owls.
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Don’t change a thing! Pleasurable echo,indeed! Very lovely. If you need to do some deep thinking, this is the place to be. Forget all your cares, forget all your worries. Native American Indian spirits abound.
Aimee: I won’t change a thing! Promise!
Simply beautiful!
Fantastic, that’s a great recording. I so love those sounds, also the spring peepers 😉
I’m really glad the peepers are part of it, even though some think they’re a tad too loud. I say “turn down the volume a bit for a more natural listening experience”.
Beautiful….I really enjoyed this magical recording.
Wonderful
I love it! I think it’s the right balance as is. I hear Barred Owls at our house here in Tennessee all the time, and this sounds very natural to me. I’ve been looking for a good owl recording for a long time, and it think this may be it. My wife and I have been listening to this through 3 plays now, and we’re both feeling quite relaxed. Thank you, Lang.
Michael: Glad to hear that you like the recording. Lots of people are enjoying the looping feature.
Sounds great to me! Thank you!
I’d prefer the volume on the peepers turned down.
Yes, I wish the peepers were a tad softer.
Love it! I’m walking around mom’s house smiling with owls hooting in the background. Thanks.
: >)
Love it just the way it is. Have a safe trip. Going out tonight to see what I can record.
I’m back now and will soon post recordings from my trip.
Magical! Wish I could’ve been there.
It’s perfect just as it is. Love!
You’ve given me another pleasant evening listening to owls answering roll call.
: >)
Absolutely great!, yes peepers too loud
Dick: you must have sensitive ears. Nobody else seems to think the peepers are too loud. Nonetheless, I am tempted to lower them a tad.
You get the most amazing recordings! Thank you for sharing. I’ve had a single barred owl occasionally in my neighborhood that I only ever hear make one type of call. Sort of who cooks for you, but not quite, the spaces between the ‘notes’ are different, and I can’t hear the hoo-aw unless it’s close. I did get to see it just once, when it was calling about 4 in the afternoon, and I was able to find it, and see it as it flew off. It’s been heard around my town for a few years now, but since they’re… Read more »
Sad story … hope it finds a mate and lives happily ever after on the Cape.
Love this owl conversation and peeper symphony. Perfect mix! My husband can call in the barred owls. I am never sure if I am listening to real owls or him when out in the woods.
Our 3 sons and now a grandson have all learned to hoot like a barred owl before they could say their first word. Have a great trip in every way, Lang.
Your husband sounds like a real hoot! Can’t wait to meet him.
Perfect recording Lang. I wouldn’t change a thing.
At the ripe old age of 68, I hate to say that I’ve never seen an owl, up to this past winter when wintering in Florida. I was very luck, too. I was told about a barred owlet off a nature trail, in Sarasota. So I took my camera and was able to click a few photos of this little guy.
Nice pics Connie. Florida has a reputation for very friendly Barred Owls that hang around boardwalks. I remember one at Corkscrew Swamp that couldn’t give a hoot that I was standing there only twenty feet away.
Perfect in everyday. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! Doing my spring sequoia groves recordings in Yosemite now.
Dan: I hope things are going well in the grove. I’m currently in Virginia attending a graduation ceremony, but will be back in the boonies Saturday night.
WONDERFUL!!!!! MUCH THANKS!!!
I love the volume of both frogs and owls; Barred Owls crack me up as they can sound like someone dying in the woods (ask my horses the first time they heard them what they thought)! These owls have so many different calls, quite the conversationalists. They are also lots of fun to phish in…
Nancy: Definitely among the most vocal conversationalists of the bird world! And their conversations sound so enthusiastic and happy … which I think they area.
It’s perfect. Frogs not too loud, and a great background for the owls. Gives one a sense of place.
Well said. In the world of soundscape recording, sense of place is what it’s all about.
Love it! I often hear a similar soundscape, with fewer peepers though, right outside my window in the middle of the night! (…sometimes late afternoon) We’ve had a barred owl family in our wooded midst here for years and I often wonder if they’re all related… so cool when they all chime in together like that … Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you allll?!: )
Susan: I’ll bet they are all related. And the group hooting? My understanding is that is almost always “family talk,” presumably of the cheerful variety.
I miss hearing the owls when I lived in the mountains of central ID so this was wonderful! Thank you for letting me recall some of my favorite memories…:)
You’re welcome Brenda.
amazing. And it makes me want to learn more. Do they communicate when/if/or because other predators are near? Is this a mating call? Competing songs? shear fun?
While it is relaxing…it makes me curious rather than sleepy. Kind of sounds like the North American version of chimpanzee calls. I sure wish I knew what they are saying. Well, one might imagine…..
It is my understanding that most of these kinds of hoots have to do with family members staying in contact, knowing where each other area. And the excited hooting of two or more all at once, I think, occurs when family members come together. So I think most of the hooting reflects a positive frame of mind (in human terms) as opposed to indicating an aggressive or upset state of mind. But I’m not an owl expert, so this is just my guess.
Oh, this is very nice. My hollow used to have many more owls, but the neighbors did extensive logging for too many years and I don’t hear them much any more.
Barred Owls do require healthy forest. Maybe they’ll return to your area down the road, given that the forest is allowed to regenerate. As you cancer, there are certainly no lack of them in my neck-of-the-woods.
Nice balance between the peepers and the owls…a lovely duet!
Magical! I love this soundscape. Wish I had been there too.
You would have loved it … except for watching me scramble around in order to get the recording.
Sorry, I believe contact info sent incorrectly. Thanks, Mary Lou
Weird, I am too just discovering it because I am checking out other stuff. This is beautiful, like all of your recordings. I have a few thoughts that I wish to ask / share with you,,, mainly thinking I would like to use your work with mine, purchase of course. Thank you.
Mary Lou
next time, I’ll be sure to send the newsletter at the same time that I post.
oh wow, this is so wonderful. i love that sound and so rarely get to hear it. maybe just one brief call. but never such a nice long extended conversation. and the lovely echoing is perfect. i really like the peepers. they keep a nice ongoing flow.
for some reason i did not get this one by email i don’t think. i just came here to listen to one of the others and saw it.
hope you have a wonderful time on your trip!! looks like nice warm weather in this area for the next few days.
I’m sending out the notification email tomorrow morning, so that something arrives for people while I’m gone on my trip (it’s scheduled for automatic delivery). You happened to find it because you were checking out other stuff.