Music of Nature Podcast

Puffin Snorefest. 22 July 1994, 8am, Great Island, Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, Newfoundland. Recorded by Lang Elliott. In late July, I accompany two researchers to Great Island, a protected seabird sanctuary in Newfoundland’s Witless Bay. The island is the home to over 250,000 nesting Atlantic Puffins and the primary goal of my visit is to record their unusual buzzy snores, which sound like mi...

4/28/21 around midnight, Turkey Creek, Aravaipa Canyon near Klondyde AZ. NOTE: This is a ambient binaural soundscape; please listen with headphones! During a late April visit to the magical Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area in southeastern Arizona, I make my way to a remote side canyon where I camp under a large Cottonwood tree next to a small, gently splashing waterfall. The moon is full and a ligh...

Calming Crickets and Forest Drip - 25 September 2017, 1am, Shindagin Hollow near Brooktondale, New York. Recorded by Lang Elliott. As autumn begins revealing its colors, there is still a pleasing insect chorus at night in the forested hills of upstate New York. In late September, after an evening thunderstorm passes through the area, I visit nearby Shindagin Hollow in search of soothing meditative...

In late June, I visit Olympic National Park and camp near Ozette Lake in the Olympic Peninsula. At the break of dawn, I amble along a trail leading to the Pacific Ocean and encounter an exciting constellation of sounds. Against a backdrop of subtle gurgles from a small stream and the gentle whoosh of a light breeze, two varied thrushes sing loudly from tall hemlocks while others sound off in the d...

Muskrats Nattering. 31 August 2020, around 3am, Teeter Pond, Finger Lakes National Forest near Valois, New York. © Lang Elliott. In early autumn, I camp along the shore of Teeter Pond in the Finger Lakes National Forest in upstate New York. That night, crickets trill melodiously and katydids rasp their harsh chee-chee from the surrounding forest. In the wee hours of the morning, I awaken to whimpe...

25 March 1994, 8am, Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska. Recording © Lang Elliott. In late March, I travel to Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge, located in west-central Nebraska, about twenty miles due north of the Platte River. It is early spring and the waterfowl migration is at its peak. Looking for recording opportunities, I home in on a long, narrow pond only ten or fifteen...

June 6, 2021, 8:30pm, Cayuta Lake Outlet, Gulf Road, near Alpine, New York © Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com A lovely binaural soundscape-portrait of a Veery thrush singing and calling at dusk with the relaxing gurgle of a small waterfall to one side, the soft rush of a brook to the other, and various subtle bird songs in the background.

May 24, 2024, Buffalo Camp, American Prairie Preserve east of Zortman, Montana. © Lang Elliott. The most exciting section is near the end, from 3:35-4:00. CAN ANYONE HELP ME IDENTIFY THE MYSTERY SOUND-MAKER? My semi-educated guesses: How about Porcupine? I recorded this rather amazing mystery sound made by an unknown animal (presumably a mammal) in the American Prairie Preserve in Montana. At dusk...

Light Rain and Forest Drip, 31 May 2021, around 3am, Cranberry Glades Botanical Area near Raintown, West Virginia. © Lang Elliott Recorded in the wee hours of morning along a swampy section of the boardwalk at Cranberry Glades Botanical Area high in the mountains of West Virginia. Raindrops and drips from trees splat against the broad leaves of skunk cabbage. Listen also for periodic spring peeper...

Kentucky Swamp After Dark - April 15, 1995 at 11pm. Land Between the Lakes, near Golden Pond, Kentucky. Recorded by Lang Elliott. Land Between the Lakes is one of our favorite locations for enjoying the sounds of nature. One year, we visit in mid-April and arrive just as the sun sets. The scene is exquisite, with a white-tailed deer silhouetted against the red sky. As darkness descends, we make ou...

Mountain Brook Nightscape - July 2, 2002, around midnight. Shindagin Hollow near Brooktondale, New York. Recorded by Lang Elliott. Please listen using headphones! In early July, I camp at the bottom of Shinagin Hollow in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, a short distance from a small mountain brook. Around midnight, I am awakened by a distant Barred Owl that screams and hoots from the o...

Gentle Musical Waves. During an autumn trip to Lake Ontario in 2025, I was fortunate to encounter an evening of very calm wave action. Small swells rolled in, each lapping gently against round stones and producing an astounding variety of delicate, musical plinks, plops and splashes. It was as if the sea was having a good time making its water music and delighting at every turn. I sat quietly on a...

Querulous Grebes at Raab Lake May 5, 1993, 4:30am. Raab Lake, Turtle Mountains, North Dakota. © Lang Elliott. 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 reverberant calls of red-necked grebes, but far in the distance, at the opposite end of t...

Recorded February 15-16, 2021 at Wolf Mountain Nature Center near Smyrna, New York. © Lang Elliott. I recorded throughout the night and this is a compilation of my best cuts of howling wolves, carefully sequenced for your listening pleasure. A gentle wintertime gurgling brook ambience has been added. Note: These are not wild wolves—they are the result of captive breeding programs at various locati...

Wet Gloppy Snowfall. Recorded February 2, 2016, 10am. Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area, near Ithaca, New York. © Lang Elliott. It is early February in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. What begins as an idyllic snowstorm, with large, delicate snowflakes falling slowly and gently to the ground, quickly transforms as the temperature rises to well above freezing. The snowflakes be...

Beaver Moans and Cave Drip - 5min 24sec May 10, 2024, 11pm. Round Spring State Park, north of Eminence, Missouri. Recorded by Lang Elliott. In the Ozark region of southern Missouri, Round Spring wells up into a large sinkhole, surrounded by steep forested slopes on all sides. The water is a vivid blue and flows out through a cavelike passageway at one end, emerging about a hundred feet away to for...

Gator Song - May 19, 2019, 1am. Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida. Recorded by Lang Elliott. This is a binaural soundscape. Please listen with headphones for a spacious, immersive experience. In the middle of the night, along the Anhinga Trail boardwalk in the Everglades, I hear the gentle purring of crickets, a distant chorus of frogs, random splashes and pops, and chuck-will’s-wid...

A spirited dawn chorus along a marsh edge at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the upper peninsula region of Michigan. Listen for mink frogs, green frogs, common snipe, american bittern, red-winged blackbird and much more. Recorded 8 June, 2004.

Dawn chorus at edge of a beaver pond in Shindagin Hollow, near Brooktondale NY. Listen for green frogs, bullfrogs and a variety of bird songs including: red-winged blackbird, wood thrush and mourning dove. Recorded 30 May 2013. Please listen with headphones.

Dawn Chorus recorded at Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in south Texas, near Artesia Wells. 20 May 2005.

Forest birds singing during mid-morning in the Sunklands area in the Ozark Mountain region of southern Missouri. Listen for the prominent wood thrush, plus carolina wren and yellow-throated warbler. Recorded 15 May 2021.

Varied Thrushes singing along a forest trail near Ozette Lake in the Olympic National Park. Listen also for a Swainson's Thrush and Winter Wren, along with the gentle gurgle of a nearby stream. 2 August 2021. Please Listen with headphones.

Magical Dawn Chorus at Spring Pond Bog in the Adirondack Mountains near Tupper Lake, NY. 12 June 2000. Listen for Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush, White-throated Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and more. Binaural; please listen with headphones. © Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com

Birds at dawn. Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area near Ithaca, New York. © Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com

A pleasing dawn chorus recorded at Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area near Ithaca, NY. 21 May, 2016. Binaural - Please listen with headphones. Prominent singers include Eastern Wood-Pewee, Mourning Dove, Wood Thrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Ovenbird. © Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com