Sounds Southern

By Alice PierottiScience Health & Fitness Mental Health Natural Sciences Nature

Sounds Southern episodes

October 06 Mockingbird Song on the Autumn Breeze
Recorded on October 5, 2026 at the dogtrot, this is the sound of a breezy autumn day in the pasture. Listeners will hear psithurism moving through the towering Blackjack Oaks and the fall song of a Northern Mockingbird establishing its winter territory in the American Beautyberry and Blackberry thicket below.

The Northern Mockingbird’s fall song is remarkably different from its spring song, with only about 1% of its songs shared between the two seasons. Females are also much more likely to sing in fall than during the spring and summer. Listeners will also hear American Crows and Blue Jays calling across the pasture, while a few lingering Ruby-throated Hummingbirds add their chatter and the whir of their wings to the autumn afternoon.
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24 min
September 29 Dog-day Cicadas in the Autumn Garden
Recorded on September 3, 2026 at the dogtrot, this is the sound of morning in the fall garden. Crickets and grasshoppers are bursting with life, while dozens of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds crowd the garden feeders during the peak of fall migration, fueling up for their long journey south. Dog-day Cicadas sing from the loblolly pines, reveling in the heat wave. Other birds raise their voices in the morning chorus, but it is the insect musicians who steal the show. Listeners will hear American Crow, Blue Jay, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Wood-Pewee, House Finch and White-breasted Nuthatch.
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22 min
September 22 Fall Rains at Sundown
Recorded on September 11, 2026 on the sleeping porch, this is the sound of scattered thundershowers moving across the pasture beneath a particularly colorful sunset. Listeners will hear light rain falling on the metal roof, dripping onto the rain drum and deep rolls of thunder as the storm begins to break apart. As the rain moves on and daylight fades, cricket song rises from the fall-blooming plants and grasses.
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23 min
September 15 Insect Music under September Stars
Recorded on September 4, 2026 at the dogtrot, this is the sound of a late-summer night chorus beneath a sky full of stars and waxing gibbous moon. Crickets and katydids fill the darkness with rattles, chirps and trills, joined by the fading buzz of a few late-summer cicadas as the season begins to turn toward fall.
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22 min
September 08 Hooded Warbler under September Moonset
Recorded on September 6, 2026 in the Cold Springs woods, this is the sound of a dawn chorus beneath a setting waning crescent moon. Chirping crickets provide a steady rhythm as blue hour gives way to dawn and the quiet woods awaken to birdsong at the turn of the season.

The clear, metallic song of a Hooded Warbler stands out from the early September chorus, its four or five notes ringing through the woods in a distinctive weeta-weeta-weet-tee-o, often remembered as “Richie Rich, I’m right here.” Other birds include: Summer Tanager, Yellow-throated Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, Blue Jay, Acadian Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Parula, Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Flicker, Carolina Wren, American Crow, Mourning Dove, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Cardinal, Great Crested Flycatcher, Carolina Chickadee, Wood Thrush, Yellow-breasted Chat, Northern Mockingbird, Gray Catbird, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-eyed Vireo, Brown Thrasher & American Robin.

Sounds Southern Extended listeners will hear more than 40 minutes of September birdsong beneath the fading moon along with chirping crickets, buzzing cicadas and the chatter barks of an Eastern Gray Squirrel.
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23 min
September 04 Morning in the Late Summer Meadow
Recorded on August 30, 2026 at the prairie remnant along Cold Springs Road, this is the sound of a dawn chorus of insects and birds as summer begins to loosen its grip on the hill country. After a record-hot August, fall-blooming plants are beginning to flower, with hardy Partridge Pea and Little Bluestem shining despite the heat. Migrating birds are beginning to pass through the hill country, joining resident birds as summer winds down. Crickets and a couple swamp cicadas provide a steady late-summer backdrop for Northern Cardinal, Carolina Wren, Summer Tanager, Common Yellowthroat, White-eyed Vireo, Acadian Flycatcher, Tufted Titmouse, Blue Jay, Wood Thrush, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Gray Catbird, Red-eyed Vireo, White-breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Carolina Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker and American Crow.
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20 min
September 01 Hummingbird Morning in the Trumpet Vine
Recorded on August 28, 2026 at the dogtrot, this is the sound of a late-summer morning chorus as the first wave of Ruby-throated Hummingbird migration brings a growing charm of hummingbirds to Heart Place. Listeners will hear the whir of their wings and chatter of their calls as they dart among the fall-blooming plants and feeders. Joining the morning chorus are Killdeer, Carolina Wren, Gray Catbird, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-shouldered Hawk, Summer Tanager, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, Yellow-throated Vireo, Pileated Woodpecker and Eastern Bluebird.
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22 min
August 28 Night Chorus with the Queen of the Night
Recorded on August 26, 2026 on the sleeping porch, this is the sound of a late-summer night chorus while the Night-blooming Cereus, also known as Queen of the Night, is in bloom. Insect musicians chirp, click, zip, rattle and lisp through in the humid landscape as the flower opens for the night. Though the Night-blooming Cereus is a tropical plant, it has an interesting place in Southern culture. In the 1930s, Eudora Welty, one of the recordist’s favorite authors, formed the Night-Blooming Cereus Club, gathering with friends for late-night watch parties on her porch when the plant came into bloom.
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21 min
August 25 Late Summer Lightning & Thunder

Recorded on August 21, 2026 on the sleeping porch, this is the sound of a late-summer thunderstorm breaking a weeklong heat wave. Big thunderheads build at sundown, sending rolling thunder across the hill country followed by brilliant flashes of lightning watched from the shelter of the dogtrot sleeping porch. Sounds Southern Extended listeners will hear an hour of this rich summer storm as rolling thunder and rain on the metal roof & rain drum gradually fade into evening cricket chirps and the steady dripfall from towering oaks in the pasture.
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26 min
August 21 Morning in the Partridge Pea Patch
Recorded on August 16, 2026 at the dogtrot, this is the sound of a summer morning in the middle of an August heat wave. The steady trill of field crickets provides a backdrop for the morning chorus, with Eastern Wood-Pewee, American Crow, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Tufted Titmouse, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Kingbird, Barn Swallow, Carolina Wren and Mourning Dove.This recording is best heard in a quiet setting perfect for meditating or a moment of stillness.
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21 min

About Sounds Southern

From the publisher's feed

Sounds Southern immerses listeners in the tranquil and vibrant field recordings of North Mississippi’s hill country. Each episode, presented by recordist Alice Pierotti, offers a…