Listening

Retrospective

Well, it’s been quite a while since I posted here, as I’ve been recovering from knee replacement surgery.  Recovery has been quite the ordeal, with hours and hours of physical therapy every day.  But the strength and flexibility is coming back, just in time, as the trees and shrubs are starting to bud, the spring […]

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Listening to ocean waves

Although I’ve never lived on the coast, like many people, ocean shores hold a magnetic attraction for me.  Whether it’s calm waves lapping on the sand, powerful waves crashing in the rocks, or exploring tide pools, I feel a need to visit the coast from time to time.  So the coast was my ultimate goal

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Voices in the forest

Last October, the dog and I took a lovely hike down Summit City Canyon, near Carson Pass in the Sierras.  I last hiked this canyon more than 40 years ago, and remembered it as one of my all-time favorites.  The only problem with it is that there is no easy way to get there.  Most

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On a warm summer evening

The snow is falling in the Sierras and northern Nevada has settled into its winter soundscapes.  Insects have gone quiet and the birds are too busy looking for food to make much noise.  It’s a good time to organize and sort out the huge number of sound files I collected last spring and summer. One

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The lost coast of California

The Lost Coast

It’s been an incredibly busy spring, with little time to get away and record nature sounds.  But in late May, I took a break from house renovation and writing projects to escape to northern California.  My goal was to try to capture sounds within the coastal redwoods.  In the right conditions, these giant trees can

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First breath of winter

It’s been an insanely busy few months, as I relocate my residence to northern Nevada.  But now that the move is done and most of the boxes unpacked, it’s time to filter through the many recordings I made this year and get back to blogging. The move itself was hectic, as I packed up a

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Soggy night at Red Rock Lakes Wildlife Refuge

Day 7 of my border to border road trip. I left Kalispell under light clouds, but as I drove further south the clouds became heavier and heavier, and by the time I stopped in Dillon to refuel, it was raining.   It rained intermittently until I arrived at my destination, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge,

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The Sagebrush Ocean

It’s no news to anyone who reads my blog that I am fascinated by the Great Basin.  Where some people see brown desolation, I see a complex and intriguing ecosystem.  Actually, many ecosystems, that differ by elevation, latitude, longitude and history.  Lying in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains, the Great

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Spring in the Sonoran Desert

It’s been a warm spring here in the Sonoran Desert.  Temperatures have been running 10 to 15 degrees above normal for weeks.   The super El Niño we were looking forward to moved up to the Pacific Northwest, leading to disappointment over the prospect of a super flower year (although I hear parts of central California

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Water and Ice

It’s been a pretty good winter in northern Nevada.  Lots of snow in the Sierras, and just enough cold to make you long for summer.  El Nino, so far, has meant that northern California and northern Nevada have been seeing a lot of snow, rain, and cloudy weather. I spent late December and early January

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Night falls on the Carson River

I love the transition in sounds as day fades into dusk and then evening, especially in late summer when the chorus of crickets and tree crickets creates a repetitious and soothing melody.  I find recording at this time of day challenging, though, as man-made sounds, particularly vehicle traffic, are still quite loud.  The early evening

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Along a desert wash

I haven’t had the opportunity to get out much this spring, caught up in renovating my kitchen and other assorted household chores.  But I managed to break away last week to take the dog for a walk in a nearby wash.  This wash drains the nearby Rincon Mountains, and although dry most of the year,

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