Midnight Callers

Although birds and humans dominate the diurnal soundscape, a good number of creatures call during the hours of darkness.  I was reminded of this on a trip in September, when I took another trip north to Carson City.  I spent the first night at Ashurst Lake, near Flagstaff, Arizona.  I pulled in to the campground on a lovely early fall afternoon.  The campground was mostly empty, while all of the dispersed camping areas on the drive in were already filled up with hunters getting ready for the archery elk hunt.

After a lovely sunset over the lake, shining off the San Francisco Peaks, I watched the stars slowly come out.  I pulled out my camera gear and practiced some star photography.  The kit lens for my new Canon SL1 isn’t great for star photography, but it’s a fun way to kill time when the nights are long.

Just before midnight, the squawk of a juvenile Great Horned Owl woke me up.  It was soon joined by the hoots of what were likely its parents, and a couple bull elk bugling back and forth.  I could hear one of the bulls splashing around in the lake.  The Pied-billed Grebes on the lake were chattering away, too.  I turned the recorder on, and listened to this wonderful nocturnal symphony.

In the midst of all of this squawking, hooting, and bugling, the coyotes starting singing.  I had just started to doze off (with the recorder running) when a coyote let out a howl that sounded like it was coming from inside the tent.  No dozing through that!

The racket continued all night long, and even past dawn.  Only one or two planes were audible all night long, in contrast to some of the central Nevada wilderness areas (see Sounds of Wilderness).  I heard a few hunters go by on ATV’s just before first light, but other than that, it was a beautiful night and a great place to record.

It was a beautiful sunrise, too.  After breakfast, I spent a few moments at the lake watching the grebes and osprey fishing, then packed up and continued my journey north.

Recordings made with DIY Primo EM 172 mics into a Sony PCM-M10.