I take my dog for a walk almost everyday, usually to a chunk of BLM land on the east side of town. The city and BLM have created a small recreation area there, with many trails winding up and around a mountain. The trails are in a stand of big sage, an ancient stand where […]
Sagebrush Soliloquy Read More »
Spring is taking its good old time arriving in northern Nevada, and everything seems a bit behind schedule. I recently headed over to Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge to see how things were progressing. The birds at the refuge were not waiting – they were in full breeding mode, which means making a lot of racket.
Spring arrives at Stillwater Read More »
Winter still has it’s cool and windy grip on northern Nevada, so I’m digging into the archives from last summer for some recordings to share. In July of last year, after visiting and recording in the Santa Rosa Mountains, I traveled to Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in southeastern Oregon. I first visited Hart Mountain
Hart Mountain Summer Read More »
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
Listening to ocean waves Read More »
One of the best things that has happened as a result of starting this blog is to meet some incredible people. One such person is Amy Grisak, a freelance writer from Great Falls, Montana. Amy worked for a time as a sound recordist for National Geographic – a highly enviable gig that is just a
Sound recording adventures with Amy Grisak Read More »
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
Voices in the forest Read More »
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
On a warm summer evening Read More »
I recently returned from an 11-day road trip through central and southern Oregon. I traveled from Steen’s Mountain in the east, across to the central Cascades, to the coast and then south until I ran out of Oregon, back to the Cascades in southern Oregon, and home via Mts. Shasta and Lassen. It was more
Strange sounds in the night Read More »
This summer has been unbelievable in the amount of smoke, even in areas distant from the wildfires in California, Nevada, and the Pacific Northwest. In northern Nevada, rather than the rare smoky day, a day better than “moderate” air quality was something to celebrate. During much of July and August, the air quality never got
Escaping the smoke Read More »
It’s been a hot and very smoky summer in western Nevada. I almost hate to complain, given the horrific blazes that have occurred just on the other side of the Sierras in California. Much of the smoke from those fires moves east, over the Sierras to linger in the valleys beyond. Day after day of
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
A few weeks ago, just as winter was finally arriving in northern Nevada, the dog and I headed to southern California to do some recording in the Mojave Desert. I expected to find spring on its way out, with birds frantically bringing food to their youngsters. But the weird winter we had out west threw
Spring in the Mojave Desert Read More »
