Turtle Tracks Treks

This recording was captured at the Valle Crucis Conference Center Hermitages, nestled higher up on the mountain above the main conference center. I left the field recorder running overnight to capture the natural soundscape surrounding the Hermitages, from the quiet nighttime atmosphere to the subtle sounds of the mountain coming alive, a jet plane, and a few passing vehicles struggling to climb the surrounding mountains.

This was my first attempt at leaving the recorder out overnight. This clip is a small portion of the recording taken around 6am. There is a stream about 200 feet in front of the microphones that you can hear throughout but the main event were all the birds!

Red-Eyed Vireo

Blue-Headed Vireo

Blackburnian Warbler

Acadian Flycatcher

Carolina Chickadee

American Redstart

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Yellow-throated Vireo 

Louisiana Waterthrush

Northern Parula

Black and White Warbler

This is a short clip of walking over a talus field on Austin Mountain in Shenandoah National Park's South District.

Recorded below the old fire tower at Millers Head on a route in Shenandoah National Park that I am calling the SNP Turducken Loop. Just like the Louisiana Cajun dish, the route combines three of Shenandoah's classic hikes. White Oak/Cedar Run, Millers Head, and Hawksbill. You get miles of waterfalls, the best scenic overlook, and the highest summit in the park. As a side dish you even get a little fire road walk, and a nice stretch of the Appalachian Trail. It was a long hike, and this 20 minute break/meditation was a nice rest in the sun to reset before the final ascent up to the summit of Hawksbill.

Millers Head has one of the most spectacular overlooks, it being an old fire tower. It looks down over the town of Ida, just south of Luray. In the recording you can hear cars and trucks echoing up from town in addition to planes and there were cows, but they did not pick up well in the recording. A woodpecker was hammering away to the right of me during the recording as well as several Juncos flitting about.

The park was closed for most of the morning so there were none of the common sounds of cars on the drive. On the hike up to the summit from Sugar Hollow I startled a bald eagle that was drinking at a steam and got to see it fly off. I took this field recording just below the summit of Turk Mountain in the boulder field where the sun provided some warmth on a cold day. After sitting for about 5 minutes the Juncos and Chickadees started flying in around me some getting quite close to the recorder where you can hear their wings.

After a long and steep climb on a hot day, there's nothing better than sitting by a cool creek and cooling off your feet. Join me for a break as I relax and cool down on day five of our backpacking trip along the High Sierra Trail.

This is a short recording taken on the High Sierra Trail, between Junction and Crabtree Meadows. One of the surprises on this backpack trip was how quiet the Sierra can be. While that was a fantastic experience, it did not lend itself to as many opportunities to record.

I wasn't planning on making a recording in this location, but I walked into this area where my favorite bird song (The Wood Thrush) was so bright and cheerful, I had to stop a log on the trail and make this recording. When I started recording, there was a plane overhead, and I thought to myself. I'll make the recording a little longer so I can have more tape without the plane. To my surprise, there was very little quiet time between one plane and the next, so it was also interesting to really listen to how much plane traffic there is above Shenandoah National Park.

This is a great park to take a break from the beach when visiting North Carolina's Outer Banks. It's not crowded and is a short 5-minute drive from the main strip. The preserve features "lushly wooded dunes, peaceful ponds and brackish marsh, all teeming with plant and animal life." The ponds are covered in a layer of Duckweed, giving them a bright green appearance. This is a gem of a park and a great place to reset, watch birds, and walk under the shade of "one of the largest remaining maritime forests on the East Coast".

#nagsheadwoodspreserve, #OBX, #TheNatureConservancy, #Hiking

This was taken on the shore of "The Point" in the middle of Lake Moomaw. It's a challenging and steep hike out to The Point. The reward is the relatively quiet and peaceful shore. You can hear a passing fishing boat for a young couple aboard, and at the end it starts to rain before I walk over and turn off the recorder.