March 2023 Marsh Leopard & Pig Frog Sunset Calls, Field Recording, Forest Bathing

One hour Pig and Leopard Frog Calls, SMNWR

 One hour March 2023 sunset frog calls consisting mostly of Leopard frogs (Lithobates sphenocephalus), Pig frogs (Rana grylio), a few Green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea) with Southern Field Crickets & the strange calls of Marsh Moorhen calls scattered throughout the audio. Audio collected during an overnight recording session in a dropbag set comprised of Sony PCM M10 recorder, LOM MikroUsi microphones, windbubbles & camo-type drybags. Audio location was adjacent the Florida Trail segment running west of East River Pool in the St. Marks National Wildlife refuge.

Bioacoustics, Lake Ella Ring Billed Gull Calls

Two minute clip of Ring Billed Gulls calling along shores of Lake Ella in Tallahassee

Audio link:  https://youtu.be/f944H6OI9gE

Bioacoustics, Fledgling Time for the Nuthatch Chicks, Nest Audio

 Nuthatch life.

Audio link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApRh4urFlE0

The Nuthatch chicks are three weeks old now and about ready to fledge. Their vocalizations are much more adult-like now and their appetites are big! Listen in as their parents shuttle in bugs every minute or so into the nest, and as the parents arrive the chicks holler.

The baby birds are constantly moving around in their nest too! This audio makes me realize just how annoying sweet baby's screams can be lol. I'm sure that's why the parents prefer to spend time out foraging rather than listening to the incessant juvenile chatter.

Listen closely for the difference in the chick's racket and the adult's signaling calls.

Bioacoustics, Frog Pond Night Calls, Brackish Lagoon, Florida Gulf Coast

 I was recently fortunate to have recorded a marvelous night of early spring frog calls along the edge of a sawgrass (Cladium spp.), saltbush (Baccharis halimifolia) and wax myrtle (Morella cerifera) lined brackish tidal ecosystem.

I'd originally set the recorder and microphones up to capture the experience of a brisk breeze blowing through a beautiful thicket of evergreen wax myrtle leaves.  

If for some reason the above YouTube link does not work, here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQDpqWlSimA

 The salty gusts played the wax myrtle leaves with orchestral precision, making fine nature's melody around my ears.  The ebb and flow of wind whoosh caught my attention enough to make me think an overnight recording would prove worth the effort.

What I did not expect was what happened soon after sunset when the winds quickly settled down and the night air came alive with a night-long concert of frog calls.

I'll discuss in another post the variety of calls heard over the progressing hours of the new moon dark night into the wee hours of the morning.  This night there were calls of the Southern Leopard Frog, Green Tree Frog, Bronze Frog, Pig Frog and many more.

Honestly,  there are many times when I'd rather listen to nature's music than any human music band.

My small recording combo included a camo water resistant bag, an older Sony PCM M10 recorder, LOM mikroUsi PIP microphones, and wind bubbles.  The drop bag unit was hung over a wax myrtle branch about four feet off the ground with the microphones positioned in a quasi diurnal placement.

Bioacoustics, Steady Rain in Slash Pine Flatwoods (Pinus elliottii)

Here is another nature audio recording, this time of a steady but gentle rain in the open slash pine, Pinus elliottii, flatwoods.  

I've found there are a lot of differences in the way raindrops sound depending upon the types of leaf litter the raindrops strike.  For example, the soft sounds of rain falling upon pine needles is in contrast to the sharper striking of raindrops on dried Southern Magnolia leaves, Magnolia grandiflora.

The sounds of a morning rain on slash pine needles relaxes my body and 'washes' away any stress I may be carrying.  As a boy growing up in South Florida I used to climb the small treehouse platform in our backyard oak tree and sit in the rain.  There is just something soothing in those raindrops.

Another interesting tidbit I am learning as I experience nature sounds in addition to those colors and textures and scents I usually notice is that there are two types of 'foreign' noises I can hear regardless of how far out into the swamp or forest I am; the low frequency hum of far off automobile engines (airplanes too) carrying across the tree tops and also the noisy clicking of my mechanical aortic heart valve (no escaping that one).  

Enjoy the hour long rain event across soft beds of slash pine needles!  Sony PCM recorder in dry bag with a set of omni stereo lav mics wrapped in windbubbles. P.S. I am sold on the protective qualities of good lav mic covers such as the windbubbles.  To date my mics have stayed relatively dry with no rain damage even in prolonged rain events as long as they are covered with a good type of windbubbles.  To dry the windbubbles out after a spell in the storm I lay them on a folded up paper towel on my desk.  The paper wicks away the water and overnight they are dry and ready to go.  This too is a good way to discern the quality of your windbubbles for a good pair will not stain the paper towel with color dye.

Enjoy the sounds of rain in the Flatwoods!

Bioacoustics, Nature Art and Light Drizzling Raindrops on Waterlilies; Piezo Mics

 Piezo hydrophone mic recordings of a light drizzling rain across littoral zone of a pond with waterlilies using a drop bag containing Sony recorder and stereo piezo hydrophone mics. 

The piezo mics open up new dimensions of nature sound for me as they measure audio vibrations that are travelling through the water and plant material rather than through the air, giving me a perspective of what the native fragrant waterlily Nymphaea odorata is experiencing.

Nature and native plant art therapy have been immensely successful tools in my PTSD management.  I also hope that by spreading awareness of native plants that these awareness efforts bring increased conservation and protection actions by all.