Noisy by Nature

Ann’s mowing the lawn after a day in the garden and is about to be rewarded with some pretty superb visitors. Her garden is a haven for local birds, who love to visit after she’s cut the grass for a tasty, buggy snack.

Have you ever been woken up in the middle of the night by a haunting bird call? It could be the bird featured in this episode. Ann’s awake at dawn to listen to all the native birds at her friend’s place, but there’s one visitor she wasn’t quite expecting. 

It’s time for an adventure, with Ann at the zoo! Our sound detective is on a mission, using her ears to try and find the elephants. But the hollering chimpanzees and a very loud native parrot are making it harder than it should be. 

While you're waiting for new episodes of Noisy by Nature, Ann has something special for you! Animals come in all shapes and sizes, and colours and patterns! But have you ever wondered why? Ann camouflages with Dr Nij for a new episode of Imagine This, to figure out why giraffes have spots, zebras have stripes and chameleons change colour.

Whilst you're waiting for more episodes of Noisy by Nature, Ann has a new podcast for you. It's called Nature Track. Nature Track opens a window on the beautiful sounds of the Australian wilderness. There's no music or talking, so these long, uninterrupted soundscapes are the perfect relaxing soundtrack for homework, play or rest. Each unique track is carefully recorded on location in a different...

Ann is meeting up with Rudi from Little Yarns for a bushwalk on Dharawal Country. Together they’re listening to Country and trying their best to copy the sounds of the loud locals – a whipbird, clicking froglets, a plover and something green that makes a surprising sound. Join in for a Noisy Yarn!

Ann is on an island not far off the coast Victoria, walking along by the ocean at the bottom of some cliffs. There are lots of holes or tunnels in some of the grassy hills… What could they be? They are penguin burrows! But where are the penguins? Ann waits patiently by the beach, and a little penguin pops up out of the waves and starts waddling up the beach. Oh and another one, and another one. It...

Ann is in her friends’ backyard, creeping slowing around a pond, trying to hear who might live there. A currawong sings in the neighbour’s tree. Ann hears a little croaking sound. It gets louder and louder… And some other familiar croaks join in. It’s a croaking chorus, led by the common eastern froglet!

Ann is strolling on Wadawurrung Country, listening to all of the different calls of small and medium sized birds. She’s comes to a lake when a then a strange sound floats in the wind. It’s sounds like like a cry, and it might be coming from waaaaay up in the sky. Ann looks up and sees Australia’s largest raptor - a bird of prey - the Wedge-tailed Eagle riding the thermals!

Ann is on her way to a group bird-watching walk through the Tasmanian bush. There are so many nature sounds, a Tasmanian raven, a wattlebird, and was that flash of pink a robin? But Ann’s running late and can’t stop to find out – BUT WAIT that was a very strange sound. It was kind of a hissing or grunting sound. It’s a Bettong! Also called rat-kangaroos!

It’s night-time, and Ann is out with her torch listening really hard for frogs. But, there is another sound that is distracting her and It’s so loud that she will never be able to hear anything else. Ann spots the loud sound maker with her torch. It’s round, and brown with knobbly bits all over it, and two big bulging eyes on the top of it. Is it a frog? Oh no… it’s a cane toad, and they are a big...

Ann is walking along a muddy wetland, with some black and white birds standing out in the shallow water. Ann can hear insects, clicking crabs and some birds piping away when a skinny brown bird with a loooong beak flies down onto the mudflat. It’s an eastern curlew arriving from the other side of the world!

It’s the late afternoon and Ann is walking through a forest of eucalypts after having a picnic with her friends. Ann’s heading back to the carpark when suddenly there is a high-pitched ‘yip’ sound somewhere above! What was that… WOW a little animal flies from one tree to the next.. It’s a sugar glider!

Ann is in a park near the ocean, when she sees something… very odd. It’s like the Sydney opera house, but made out of twigs! What could it be? It’s got lots of blue bits and pieces around it, plus a bit of onion skin and some flowers - they’re all scattered around like washing on the bedroom floor. AH! It’s a bower – that means a bowerbird must be close by.

Ann is camping in the desert. The sun is just setting when she hears some howling! Is it a dog? A wolf? How did it get out here in the middle of the desert? It must be a dingo! “OWWWWWWWWWW”. Hmm, are dingoes dogs? And are they an Australian animal?

It’s early morning and Ann is walking along the Murray River, listening to the gentle sound of the water flowing past. Oh… it sounds like someone is laughing at that kangaroo? Or are they laughing at Ann? The laughing sound is coming from higher up in the river red gum, so it surely can’t be a person. What could be laughing, high up in that tree?

You noisy nature narrators have been so busy that we had to make another bonus episode full of your nature noises. This time we’ve got croaking, bonking, ribbetting, mooaaaning and more – it’s your fantastic frog sounds! Keep sending us your awesome audio at ABC Kids listen, and we've got some great news too, a brand new season of Noisy by Nature will be out very soon.

We called and you answered! So many of you noisy nature narrators have been sending in recordings from all across the country, so here is our first bonus episode of your nature noises. From rainbow lorikeets to kookaburras, black kites to cockatoos, it's beautiful, babbling birds!

This special season is all about our nosiest neighbours! The creatures and critters that have made a home in our cities, towns and suburbs. One bird in particular has been making a lot of noise, and a bit of a mess rummaging through some rubbish bins looking for food. It’s an Ibis, and now we know why it has the nickname, bin chicken.

It’s a hot and steamy day, and after going to the pool Ann’s busting to get home to go to the loo. But when she arrives there’s something in the toilet! It’s green, with big yellow eyes… It’s a green tree frog. But it definitely doesn’t go galumph. Or ladedadeda!

After kicking the footy in the park, Ann hears a strange noise and spies something running along a tree branch. It’s fluffy, has a long brown tail and just jumped onto her friends’ roof! Do you know what it could be?

Up in The Top End, Ann’s settling in for a relaxing evening when suddenly she hears not one, not two but lots of squeaking INSIDE her room. Is it a cricket? Maybe a mouse? Or something else that is camouflaged against the wall?

Finishing off our special suburban sounds season, we’re outside for a spot of gardening. Ann’s doing some pruning and listening to all the birds in the trees, when all of a sudden a group of small grey birds start screeching. They are so noisy by nature, that noisy is even in their name!

Frogs, ravens, cicadas... lend us your ears! While you wait for new episodes of Noisy by Nature, Ann needs your help to find out about the amazing nature noises in your very own backyard. Take a listen to find out more, and email your audio to abckidslisten@abc.net.au!

Ann is squelching her way through a swamp looking for frogs. There's some tooting coots, splashing wood ducks, and some very squelchy mud. But wait… there’s some short low moaning sounds coming from the reeds. Yes, Ann’s found a moaning frog – it’s singing for a mate!