Sound By Nature

06/30/2024

Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago that I took on the day I recorded the latest episode of the podcast. After setting up the mics tree ears style on a Lodgepole Pine standing beside the North Fork of the Sacramento River, my dog Molly and I continued up the Sisson-Callahan Trail and then meandered off trail up to the Trinity Divide. It was an absolutely beautiful day!

06/30/2024

This was recorded beside the North Fork of the Sacramento River on a partly cloudy and warm afternoon in late spring in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. It was made using the tree ears recording technique on a Lodgepole Pine standing beside the river. ⁠Kelly Rafuse () • Instagram photos and videos⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠ I really hope you enjoy this recording....

06/16/2024

This was recorded the night prior to the previous episode. I set up two drop rigs on either side of a large meadow the evening before, one of them was a tree ears set up on a Lodgepole Pine and the other was my SAAM mic beneath aspen trees, each of them placed at the edge of the meadow. At around 1:30 am they both captured the sound of this solitary coyote howling....

06/16/2024

This was recorded on a mostly cloudy morning under Quaking Aspen trees at the edge of a meadow in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California.

05/28/2024

This was recorded on a quiet spring night in a Ponderosa Pine dominant forest in the McCloud flats area of Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The night started of breezy, then gradually became calm and quiet until dawn when birds began to sing. I found this recording location while foraging for bolete mushrooms. I recently got a job that's going to make it difficult to get out and do as much field recording as I'd like....

04/15/2024

This was recorded on cloudy night on the margin between the beach and the forest at Gold Bluffs Beach in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. The wind, blowing offshore, picked up for a short time during the night and is heard blowing through the branches of nearby stunted Sitka Spruce before settling back down to a light, barely audible breeze....

04/06/2024

This was recorded in early spring on a mostly cloudy morning at Gold Bluffs Beach in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. The wind was light and the ocean surface glassy, and I placed the microphone on a bar of sand and small cobblestones exposed by the low tide, close to the water's edge but beyond the reach of the shorebreak.

04/06/2024

I'm a little late getting this post up on the website, I released this episode a few days ago.

This was recorded on a calm early spring morning in Murrelet State Wilderness, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. The nearby tributary stream of Squashan Creek flowed swiftly in the gully below as birds sang in the early light of dawn. First to sing on this morning was the Varied Thrush, followed by the complex, rapid song of the Pacific Wren....

03/27/2024

I recorded this on a cloudy night at the beginning of spring on Gold Bluffs Beach in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. The wind was light and blowing offshore, and through the night the tide went from high to low and back to high by morning. The recording started at about 9 p.m. and continues till a bit before sunrise at about 7 a.m. This recording is entirely free of noise pollution.

03/02/2024

This was recorded on a clear and sunny winter afternoon at McArthur Swamp, Shasta County, California. Gusty wind rushed across the grassland, rustling the tall dry grasses and swooshing past their stiff stalks. McArthur swamp is an area of protected wetlands and grasslands adjacent to the Tule River and Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park located just north of the small town of McArthur....

02/27/2024

I recorded this at my home in the small town of McCloud in Siskiyou County, California. It was a relatively warm winter morning, and a flock of Evening Grosbeaks was busily eating a breakfast of sunflower seeds from a feeder hanging from the branch of a birch tree in my backyard. I placed a microphone on either side of the trunk of the tree(tree ears style) and recorded the action.

02/23/2024

I recorded this on a breezy winter afternoon beside Big Lake in the northeast corner of Shasta County, California. The sky started off mostly cloudy with rain showers to the west, but the showers dissipated as they moved eastward towards the lake, and the clouds broke up allowing the sun to shine through. In this episode the constant lapping of small wind waves against the tule lined shore is punctuated by the soft sound of the wind blowing through the bare branches of nearby trees and the gentle rustling of dry grasses....

I recorded this on a breezy winter afternoon beside Big Lake in the northeast corner of Shasta County, California. The sky started off mostly cloudy with rain showers to the west, but the showers d…

01/31/2024

This was recorded on a cloudy January evening during an outgoing tide on the beach beside the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte County, California. The steady roar of large surf breaking in the distance is punctuated by the waves pushing in against the powerful current of the river and rhythmically crashing against the shore. The river was running high and was colored chocolate brown with the abundance of sediment it was carrying from the recently breached Copco No....

This was recorded on a cloudy January evening during an outgoing tide on the beach beside the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte County, California. The steady roar of large surf breaking in t…

01/30/2024

Time spent in the redwood forest is time well spent.

01/30/2024

My daughter and I went for a quick day trip to the coast yesterday, and on our way we stopped for a walk in the Redwoods near the Smith River. These massive, stunning trees never fail to impress with their towering magnificence.

01/02/2024

There were lots of little mushrooms on my hike today. I'm not sure what kind any of these are, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful to look at🍄

#🍄

12/29/2023

This is a compilation of clips from the past year of the podcast, blended together for your enjoyment. Thank you so much for listening this year!

This is a compilation of clips from the past year of the podcast, blended together for your enjoyment. Thank you so much for listening this year!

12/21/2023

A new episode is available! I recorded it earlier this week using a tree ears drop rig at Bigelow Meadow. I set up the recording on Sunday afternoon and retrieved it the following Wednesday morning. In that time the area received over six inches of rain! I was very happy to find my gear dry and unharmed when I picked it up. The portion of the recording I used for the episode was from the second night and is eight hours long, perfect for a good night of sleep😴

12/21/2023

This was recorded on a rainy night at the very end of autumn in a stand of Quaking Aspen trees beside Bigelow Meadow in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. I made this recording tree ears style by placing a small microphone on either side of the trunk of a Quaking Aspen tree that was standing near the edge of the meadow....

This was recorded on a rainy night at the very end of autumn in a stand of Quaking Aspen trees beside Bigelow Meadow in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. I made this reco…

12/07/2023

This was recorded on a cold and windy late autumn day at the edge of Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. At the location beside the lake where this was recorded, shards of ice that looked like broken plate glass were piled up along the shore. This occurred sometime in the days prior, when the lake had frozen over and the thin ice was broken up by wind and blown across the surface of the lake to its edge, where it accumulated into a long pile which stretched for several hundred feet along the shoreline....

This was recorded on a cold and windy late autumn day at the edge of Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. At the location beside the lake where this was recorded, sh…

12/03/2023

This was recorded on a cold and sunny morning beside Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. I made this recording at the same time the previous episode was recording, about 250 meters away.
I used the binaural recording technique for this, in which a microphone is worn on each ear in order to capture sound as closely as possible to the way we naturally hear....

This was recorded on a cold and sunny morning beside Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. I made this recording at the same time the previous episode was recording, …

11/30/2023

This was recorded on a cold, sunny, and still morning at the edge of frozen Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. Early in the morning the sun was obscured by clouds, but after they passed by and the sun shined upon the icy lake, surreal sounds began emanating from the surface. The ice at the edge of the lake snapped and crackled, and long cracks ran across the the icy lake surface, creating strange and otherworldly sounds. The recording has not been altered in any way, this really is what it sounded like.

This was recorded on a cold, sunny, and still morning at the edge of frozen Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. Early in the morning the sun was obscured by clouds,…

11/29/2023

I recently made some wind protection for my SAAM Microphone in order to get better recordings on windy days. Several people remarked that it looked like Cousin It from the Addams Family, so that's what I've started calling it. I went to Medicine Lake, in Modoc National Forest, on a very cold and windy day in order to test it out, and these are the results....

I recently made some wind protection for my SAAM Microphone in order to get better recordings on windy days. Several people remarked that it looked like Cousin It from the Addams Family, so that& #8…