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 shore…

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 s…

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 …

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…

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 ea…

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 sma…

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 ru…

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! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/soundbynature/support

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. Th…

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 an…

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 a…

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 …

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 …

This was recorded on a cold and clear autumn day in the forest high above Cabin Creek near the Pacific Crest Trail in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. A light breeze blew through the tops of the Douglas Fir trees towering above, shaking loose rain that was still clinging to the needles from the night before. The recording …

This was recorded beneath a stand of Mountain Hemlock and Lodgepole Pine on a breezy autumn day at Porcupine Lake in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The air was cold and crisp as the sun shined through passing high clouds, while gusty wind blew through the trees surrounding the clear water of the high mountain lake. Unb…

This was recorded on a clear autumn day near the Pacific Crest Trail in a deep, shady, and densely forested mountain gulch at the bottom of a small waterfall on Trough Creek in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. I am deeply grateful to everyone that has helped me by making monthly contributions and one time donations to the …

This was recorded on a rainy autumn night in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. A breeze blew through the trees above early on then gradually subsided as the rain fell steadily through the night before becoming lighter as morning drew near. This was recorded tree ears style in which a small microphone is placed on either sid…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode answers listeners’ questions about estuaries, the zone in a river where it meets the sea. The influence of tidal flows and differing densities of water are discussed relative to the mixing of fresh and salt water. Organisms that can live in the wide range of salinities typically found in estuaries are brie…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode explains where the salt in the ocean comes from, and outlines in simple terms the balance of inputs and outputs that result in relatively steady state salinity in ocean water. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ exper…

I recorded this in the meadow at the south end of Taylor Lake in the Russian Wilderness, Klamath National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. It was a warm morning for the elevation of the meadow(6500') thanks to the cloud cover overnight. The bumblebees, butterflies, and other pollinators were out early, flying from flower to flower getting their…

This was recorded on a cloudy night beside Taylor Lake in the Russian Wilderness, Klamath National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The recording starts at around midnight and continues until sunrise. The night was fairly calm with a faint breeze blowing through the treetops. Cows grazing in the area were active for a good portion of the night …

This was recorded on a warm summer day beside Taylor Lake in the Russian Wilderness, Klamath National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. I placed the microphone near the edge of the lake beneath White Fir trees just behind the shrubby Alder growing at the water's edge. The recording starts at about midday and continues until the late afternoon Th…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode describes the history of the northwest Atlantic/Canadian maritime population of walruses, including their historic range and reasons for extinction. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural wor…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episodes describes the unique ocean going fish Mola mola. It includes a physical description, behavioral characteristics and how to differentiate the fin of a Mola mola from that of a shark. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode explains the origins of the sandy beaches of maritime Canada, as related to the erosion of sandstone formed as a result of the erosion of the ancestral Appalachian mountains. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experi…

This was recorded overnight beside a mountain stream at the edge of a meadow in the valley of the North Fork of the Sacramento River in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. It was a calm and cool night and, aside from the sound of the water, was fairly quiet until the birds begin to sing at dawn. The recording starts at abou…

This was recorded on cool summer night in the forest high in the valley of the North Fork of the Sacramento River in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The rushing water of several mountain streams is heard in the distance, providing a soothing background to a calm and peaceful night. I gathered this recording in the fores…

This was recorded on a sunny and warm summer day in the forest beside a cold mountain stream high in the valley of the North Fork of the Sacramento River in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The recording starts in the morning and continues until mid afternoon. I recorded this during a short, two-night backpacking trip to…

This was recorded in the forest on a clear summer morning high in the valley of the North Fork of the Sacramento River in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The air was cool but not cold, in fact relatively warm for 6,700 feet elevation. The rushing water of several streams is heard in the distance as they cascade down the…

This was recorded in the early evening in the forest near Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. Thunderclouds had been brewing for much of the afternoon when finally this thunderstorm sprang to life at the end of the day, so I hastily grabbed my recording gear and set it up beneath a tree in the forest not far from my…

This was recorded on a clear and cool summer night in the Hemlock Campground at Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The lake had only been made accessible a few days earlier when the road was cleared of snow and the campground wasn't officially open yet. I was the only person there and I was happy to enjoy a quiet a…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode describes the ecological of horseshoe crabs as species that transfer energy to many different threads in the food web, including migratory shore birds and fish. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the…

This was recorded late on a clear and calm night in the forest beside a small meadow flooded with snowmelt not far from Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. Frogs are heard singing at the lake in the distance and nearby in the shallow water of the flooded meadow. This recording was made tree ears style by placing a m…

This was recorded at dawn on a cool early summer morning in the Lodgepole Pine forest surrounding Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. I set up the mic in the forest near the campground I was staying in (which I had entirely to myself), close enough to the lake that you can hear the splash of jumping trout, yet still…

This was recorded just after sunset beside Medicine Lake in Modoc National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The wind had just died down and the remaining wind ripples lapped against the rocky shoreline, then slowly subsided as the lake became increasingly still. Frogs and toads called out in chorus on the far side of the lake as the darkness se…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode explains why horseshoe crabs’ blood is blue as well as the critically important substance found in it. Limulus amoebocyte lysate is isolated from horseshoe crab blood and used to test the sterility of medical equipment and vaccines, and as of yet has no approved synthetic alternative in the United States. …

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode describes the state of horseshoe crab populations as well as the challenges to understanding population levels in the absence of data. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teache…

*This episode is a little quieter than usual, you may need to turn up the volume to hear it well. This was recorded on a late spring afternoon in a small stand of Quaking Aspen growing beneath tall Ponderosa Pines beside a seasonally flooded meadow located east of Bear Mountain in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. I made …

This was recorded early on a clear spring morning in the forest near White Deer Lake in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The recording starts about an hour before sunrise as the birds were just beginning to sing, and the frogs were winding down their nighttime chorus. You'll hear many different birds on this recording in…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode describes some key anatomical features of Limulus polyphemus, American horseshoe crabs and explains the mating behaviors that can be seen when the animals visit the intertidal zone. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’…

This was recorded on a spring afternoon at White Deer Lake in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The thunder began in the distance with a light breeze blowing through the Ponderosa Pines and White Firs towering above, then clouds rapidly gathered overhead and built into active thunderheads which produced abundant lightning…

This was recorded in the middle of a warm, sunny, and breezy day during my camping trip at Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park at the end of April. I was walking along the Lava Springs Trail between the Horr Pond Campground and Crystal Springs when I happened upon a mother Black Bear and her cubs. I saw the mama bear first walking through the thick un…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode summarizes the findings of Johnston et al (2023) showing that commercial rockweed harvest as practiced in Maine results in on average reduced height but pre harvest levels of biomass one year post harvest. Different implications based on management perspectives are noted. Johnston, Elliot et al 2023 Bed-sc…

This was recorded early on a clear and warm spring morning at Bigelow Meadow in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. A light and steady breeze blew across the willow thickets and a few nearby pine trees which call the meadow home, with the soft roar of the McCloud River, running high with an abundance of snowmelt, heard in t…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode describes the process of using environmental DNA (eDNA) to investigate the presence or absence of organisms in the environment. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biolo…

This was recorded early on a rainy morning near a seasonal lake deep in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. I set the recording rig up tree ears style on a White Fir and left it for two nights at this location. This episode is from very early on the first morning of the recording. It starts in the darkness of predawn in s…

This was recorded in spring at Conical Depression in Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park, Shasta County, California. Conical Depression is a wide, shallow crater with a small lake in the middle, which is ringed with tule and cattails, with a wide clearing around the lake which is surrounded by juniper and oak woodland. I set up the microphone beneath …

This was recorded on a clear and warm spring evening in the Horr Pond Campground at Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park, Shasta County, California. I built the fire with downed oak branches I gathered from the surrounding forest floor, and started it just before sunset. It burned vigorously at first, then slowly died down as darkness fell and the star…

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode describes the concept of life history strategy, and highlights findings from a paper that investigated the impact of introduced intertidal crabs (Carcinus maenus, European green crabs and Hemigrapsus sanguineus, Asian shore crabs) on Atlantic rock crabs (Cancer irroratus). The study demonstrated that the r…