Veery at Dusk
Veery at Dusk. June 21, 2025 at 8:30pm. Cayuta Lake outlet near Alpine, NY. © Lang Elliott. AI-gen Image
Note: The recording featured above 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!
In my never-ending quest to celebrate the songs of our native thrushes in spacious binaural sound, I search for soundscapes that offer a pleasing balance between the songs of the thrush and the background ambience. There is no end to the variation that one encounters in nature, but, at least to my ears, it is rare to find a mix where the background and song combine to create a truly magical listening experience.
Of all our thrushes, the Veery is quite unique, its enchanting song an ethereal downward spiral of flutey notes with an echoing ventriloquial quality. Poet Henry Vani Dyke (1952-1933) loved the Veery’s song so much that he wished it would be his final farewell:
“And when my light of life is low,
And heart and flesh are weary,
I fain would hear, before I go,
The wood-notes of the Veery.
At dusk, on June 21 2025, I stumbled upon a Veery soundscape that I feel qualifies as magical in its effect. I was ambling down a trail that follows the Cayuta Lake outlet near my home in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York. As I approached a small brook that descended from a steep slope and gently cascaded down to the inlet, I was struck by the pleasing balance of sound, with the tinkle of a small waterfall to the left, the gurgling whoosh of the descending brook to the right, and subtle bird songs in the distance. I set up my gear and began recording.
Almost immediately, a lone Veery began singing from the trees directly overhead, its delicate song blending beautifully with the water music. The Veery sang unabated for minutes on end and then gave vibrant call notes: veer ... veer … veer …veer. Soon he switched to another call variation, but then returned to song, finally falling silent and flying away to its roosting site for the night.
What Do You think?
Dear listeners, I am curious what you think about this recording. Given that you're listening with headphones and can appreciate the spacious binaural effect, I wonder if you find it pleasing, even magical? Does it transport you into wild nature and capture the essence of a Veery singing and calling at dusk before retiring for the night?
Please share your thoughts in the Comment Section below!
Naturally Yours,
Lang
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Comment Section
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Really wonderful, thanks for posting!
We get a few Veery’s in our backyard that make this call almost every night in the summer. It’s so pleasing and almost sounds like it should be an alien. One of my favorite calls!
Just lovely!
This was a beautiful experience! Did not know there was a poem on the Veery! And yes, the binaural effect is brilliant, particularly on my desktop speakers!
I remember decades ago, when this beautiful bird sang from daylight to dark, in Northern Minnesota. This bird was so relaxing to listen to. We have lost millions of Birds.
I looooove the thrushes!! By far one of my most favorite nature sound. Their sounds bring me back to the beautiful and peaceful woods of my childhood during the late spring and summers.
Last evening, a wood thrush came into our yard and sang its beautiful song. Usually I only hear them in the woods so having this outside my window in the suburbs was a real treat.
Thank you for recording these beautiful songs and sounds for us to enjoy. Such a gift.
Hello Jen, I have a cat named Delicata that looks just like yours and is a parrot cat as well. It made me laugh!
Thank you everyone for posting comments! I ended up leaving town and was unable to respond to your posts in a timely fashion as I usually do.
I’m sitting on my front porch listening to the birds when I came across your blog. The birds stopped singing when they heard the tune of the Veery!
Thank God Spring had arrived & aren’t we blessed!
Thank you Lang for this gift of nature.
Makes me ready for summer!
Truly lovely, Lang, it transported me back nearly 60 years to when as a young teen I’d become a passionate birder just an hour away from there, and would spend hours in the woods listening to the summer birds. Veery was and is a favorite. I believe I hear an accompanying Magnolia Warbler and just one rattle of a kingfisher in the recording.
Gorgeous and very relaxing.
Relaxing
I am not listening with earphones but with linked hearing aids, which I rhink are just as well. Thanks posting this excellent recording!
I love the Veery and can’t wait for them to return. I appreciated your quote by Henry Van Dyke as it was his son Tertius who married both my parents and maternal grandparents as well as baptizing my brother. Some of the descendants and Van Dyke relatives lived in Washington, CT.
I’m so excited to be receiving your newsletters again. How beautiful is the veery’s song!
Enchanting! This has always been one of my favorite bird songs, your capture of it – exquisite.
very lovely. So glad your timing was right to capture these wonderful sounds of nature.
Love this audio of the Veery
A nice recording indeed. Personally, I found the sound of water flow somewhat intrusive, but that maybe reflects my own focus on bird sounds.
Lovely; peaceful. Thank you.
All of that, Lang Elliott! While the fluting of a Wood thrush is my favorite birdsong, the trill of a Veery is a close second. The gentle water combined with the song of the Veery is gorgeous- magical and relaxing for me. This is one I would add atop my favorites playlist.
Absolutely magical and very transporting. I close my eyes and there I am……..t’is a beautiful gift. Thank you, Lang!
“and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
the ear,
It strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;”
Gerard Manley Hopkins, https://poets.org/poem/spring
Wonderful. Instantly, one’s blood pressure drops. Perfect launch into the weekend, and a good push to go hiking! Thanks.
Thank you so much for this gift of birdsong in the misty moments of dusk. I’m enjoying all your newsletters.
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing.