161: Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park- Redwood Tree Ears- Dawn In The Forest

Sound By Nature

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. This part of the forest wasn't far from the ocean, and its hushed roar can be faintly heard in the distance.

I made this recording tree ears style on a Coast Redwood standing beside the Fischer Grove Trail. Though it wasn't an exceptionally enormous tree by Redwood standards, it was still very large tree of 7 or 8 feet in diameter. Spacing the microphones that far apart, with such a big tree between them, doesn't make for an "accurate" stereo recording, but making a recording that accurately reproduced what a person would hear wasn't my intention. I just thought it would an interesting experiment and fun to imagine what a Redwood tree might hear(if it had two human ears, one on either side of its trunk about four feet off the ground), and I was just plain curious about how setting the mics up like this would sound. I was initially reluctant to share this recording, but I figured what the heck, maybe you'd be interested to hear it, too.

Aside from it being experimental, another reason I was reluctant to share this recording is due to the fact that there is a bit of faint noise pollution. It wasn't the usual air traffic, and this spot is far from any highway, so I'm guessing it was the distant sound of heavy equipment working on the ongoing Redwoods Rising forest restoration project. I was definitely a little bummed out to hear it on this recording, but I don't think it takes too much away from the otherwise beautiful soundscape. If you'd like you can learn more about the forest restoration project here- Redwoods Rising - Save the Redwoods League

Interesting fact- On September 5, 1980, Redwood State and National Parks was designated a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations.

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