Querulous Grebes with Owl, Grouse, and Sparrows
Red-necked Grebes calling at night. Recorded May 19, 1993, 4:30am. Raab Lake, Turtle Mountains, North Dakota..© Lang Elliott. Please wear headphones. Ai-gen photo likeness.
Note: The recording featured here is a "3D binaural soundscape". Please wear headphones for a profound listening experience that will make you think you're actually out there, immersed in the natural world!
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 eerie, reverberant calls of Red-necked Grebes, but far in the distance, at the opposite end of the lake. As dawn approaches, the grebes finally come my way and put on a show I will never forget.
Mated pairs call together in a duetting celebration, their trembling whinnies and brays blending with one another and echoing across the lake. Ruffed grouse drum loudly from nearby woods and a great horned owl hoots from the treetops. Though still quite dark, song sparrows (one very close by) sing time and again, as if heralding the coming light.Â
People familiar with red-necked grebes might think their calls are dissonant and hard on the ears. But the querulous grebes of Raab Lake impressed me as being the opposite, their haunting, hypnotic melodies transporting me into a mystical realm of wonder and awe.
Note: Way back in 1993, I stumbled upon the Turtle Mountains, a picturesque island of northern forests and lakes surrounded by prairie lands. It's off the beaten path, but if you ever manage to go there, be sure to visit the International Peace Garden, which is scarcely three miles east of where I made this recording.
Naturally Yours,
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Thank you so much for sharing this! Glad you are posting these amazing recordings again!
Me, searching locations and downloading maps…what wonderful sounds! Thank you.
I remember when you and I drove to that area and then on to Alberta in my old pickup truck in the early 1990s, with me photographing birds and you recording their sounds. Such an amazing journey.
Yes, we found Raab Lake in early June 1992, when I recorded the grebes with a monaural shotgun microphone. I was so impressed by the possibilities, I returned the following year with my soundscape mic and I’m sure glad I did! Not only did I get this grebe recording, I also snagged a great binaural soundscape of the pelican colony at nearby Willow Lake NWR, where you photographed them in 1992.
Red-necked Grebes used to nest in our bay on Rainy Lake decades ago before the habitat changed and they moved elsewhere. Their songs were always enchanting. Your hearing them all night reminded me of our camping on an island one full-moon night and hearing loons calling for many hours. It was well worth the disturbance to our sleep and something I’ll never forget.
Oh MAGIC! How I long for the house in NH across from a peat bog-loons, owls, then we were next to a brook in CT and had foxes, many owls, phoebes– How i miss the wonderful conversations birds and other animals have. I so appreciated a few true clean moments of honest nature–thank you so much. Anne
Oh, that song sparrow in the foreground. Such a magically layered and deep soundscape, with all God’s critters in their place in the choir. Just heard a mallard, and I’d have missed the ruffed grouse but for your saying they are there. WILD. I had no idea red-necked grebes could sing like this.
What an amazing contrast with the song sparrows near and clear and the distant haunting call of the Great Horned Owl and Grebes.
Thank you so much for this. What an amazing concert! Thank you for sharing!
The beauty of these animal sounds, and your kindness and generosity in sharing them, brings tears to my eyes. I am deeply grateful.
Thank you and you’re welcome!
Love this Lang! So full, clear, and complex. I think I’m IN the pond!
Remember to come up for air!
Awesome. What a gorgeous, reverberant soundscape. With headphones, you’d swear you were there.
Glad you like it Wil.
Fantastical, magical! Otherworldly – thank you!
What a glorious compendium of sound. So much beauty and awe in the sounds of nature! from the loudest to the farthest and barely audible. This must have been overwhelming for you to experience!
It was definitely a magical night. The moon was nearly full, as I recall, with reflections in the water. I could not see the grebes, but at one point they passed by really close. The Great Horned Owls were magnificent and fairly close by, though unseen. And the location was incredibly quiet all night, although later in the morning I was shocked when a road grater showed up, clearing debris on the border access road (which barely qualified as being a road). Some years later I returned to the Turtle Mountains but was unable to get to Raab Lake because… Read more »
I get it. But maybe it’s actually best that way, otherwise who knows what would have been built up around such an amazing wilderness location–hinted at by the grading of the road just at the very time AFTER you had (luckily) been able to experience what you did. I can imagine that the wildlife is all still there in all its undisturbed glory!
I am also a lover of sound, especially of birds, but all natural sound (like you). I don’t do anything fancy, but I do get some recordings on my iPhone that I treasure. One in particular (3-3/4 min., 31.3 mb), that I just re-listened to (you inspired me) was of a cacophony of frogs outside my cabin by a lagoon in sw. Peru (Manu area), that I recorded (video) at 2 am when I awoke to the constant distant flickering of lightning across the lake, with low rumbling of thunder.
I did a couple of trips to Amazon lowland rainforest, one to Peru and the other to Ecuador. The frogscapes were amazing to behold. I plan to add a number of them to my mobile app, Pure Nature 3D Soundscapes (for iOS).
This is AMAZING!
What makes it all so lively and sustained and “open” is the proximity of the lake, yes?
Wonderful mix of sound to start the day!
Yes, the grebes were well offshore, and Raab Lake is quite large. That’s a great formula for rich reverberation.
Remarkable. Felt like I was there. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful!!! Interesting, I enjoy these sounds. Thanks for sharing !!!
Nature orchestrates so beautifully for us, and many heartfelt thanks for capturing and sharing your recordings. The sparrows’ jewel-tones are a brilliant staccato.
“jewel tones” … “brilliant staccato” … maybe I should hire you to dress up my posts!
Your birds put those words in my heart!
: >)
Goosebumpingly beautiful! So many layers of sound in this – and resultant feelings that arise. Wowza! Thank you, Lang!
Very layered indeed. And so many Ruffed grouse drumming.The owls were quite close, though I couldn’t see them. And the sparrows are an added treble touch. I don’t think I could have done a better job if I was able to orchestrate the affair myself. Up until this particular night in 1993, I was totally unaware that the Red-necked Grebes could make such otherworldly sounds.
Yes – “otherworldly” goes right along with Christopher’s “eerie”! The owl is a resonant bonus – and the flibbertigibbety sparrows add some levity! Bravo!
What an eerily beautiful recording. Love it!
Yes, the calls are eerie, and I think I’ll add that word to my description above.
I trust you’re doing well?
I am indeed. How are you doing? One of my favorite aspects of my current job as a middle school art teacher is I get to share my enthusiasm for wildlife with students. I particularly enjoy drawing nature from observation with chalk, eraser, and charcoal 🙂 When I first met you I had not yet become an art teacher and was floundering a bit as I recall!
I’m doing OK in spite of a number of health issues in recent years. But I guess that’s to be expected when you’re rapidly approaching 80 years of age.
I guess so. I am glad to hear you are doing ok though. I hope you have an awesome spring and wishing you far fewer health issues.