Queets River Valley Rainforest Dawn with Elk by Andy Martin, Field Recordist published on 2022-11-30T15:03:59Z A long soundscape across Dawn in the Queets River Valley rainforest of the Olympic National Park. Starting in Astronomical Twilight, a small herd of Roosevelt Elk walks in from a distance, though a small forest glade, an away towards the Queets River bed. Early Autumn rainfall and dropping Maple Leaves are the dominant sounds to begin, their pak-pak-spaks are a reminder that time passes, even in the still quiet of a moss-covered forest. Highway 101 in less than 12 miles away, and distant traffic is funneled up the Valley, showing the difficulty of escaping human-generated sound. This has been mitigated somewhat with light processing, but close listening and inspection will make remnants evident. There are no other edits or processes committed. I love the crisp cold air of the rainforests in the fall. Sounds, natural and human generated, carry into the distant. Tucked into my sleeping bag, I lay back in my small tent, listening to the forest awaken. Where once there was just the soft distant wash of the river, the elk are joined by the local birds. Steller's Jays shriek their song with grating-yet-amusing "CHA-CHA-CHA-CHAs". A Northern Saw-whet toots in the forest canopy. Young Varied Thrush practice their songs, not quite reaching the beautiful and haunting signature fluting of their predecessors, instead emitting a silly buzzer-bell-like noise. Pacific Wren singing at the end of their season and the occasional Kingfisher make an appearance as well. Noe of these complete with the sheer vibrance of the elk. Roosevelt Elk or Roosevelt's Wapiti or Rainforest Elk are the largest remaining elk species in North America and thrive in shadowy silences of the Pacific Northwest's temperate rainforests. Bull's bugles and roars echo through the trees, becoming one of the signature sounds of the Olympic Mountains. The cows mew and squeal in return, listening for one another to not wander far astray. The small herd is a tight-nit family group, a with one, maybe two, dominant bulls, five or six cows in their harem, and a handful of young. The dominant bull leads the group on a daily hike, down from the upper valley to the river and back again. Their bugles urge the group, both signaling the direction to go and scolding those that dawdle. As they pass through the glade, their heavy footfall on the vegetative floor thump-thump-thumps their presence as much as the vocalizations and the continued crushing of vegetation as they push by. I can't get enough of their energy. They pull back frequently. No matter how many times I encounter them, Elk never cease to awe me. Click through the comments below for some highlights! Genre Soundscape Comment by Canada's Soundscapes Hi Andy, this is a beautiful soundscape recording and I loved your description. May I ask, what soundscape recording setting did you used? Thank you also for your insightful mic setup descriptive and useful article. Cheers! 2023-05-17T14:58:54Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist The microphones have a close visitor and a bird flys by, landing to examine 2022-11-30T15:55:34Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist As some of the herd seem to be lagging and getting chatty, the bull turns around for one last great bellow to get them to move 2022-11-30T15:54:16Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist A Steller's Jay, seemingly happy the elk have moved on 2022-11-30T15:52:50Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist Still practicing, that young Varied Thrush is really starting to improvise now 2022-11-30T15:51:33Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist Another voice I haven't had a moment to identify. A Steller's Jay? A Woodpecker? 2022-11-30T15:49:58Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist A young male practices a weak bugle. One day he'll lead a family of his own. 2022-11-30T15:48:03Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist The cows do their best to keep up and keep in contact with frequent mews 2022-11-30T15:46:37Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist Amidst the flurry of Pacific Wren chattering, a woodpecker (probably a Northern Flicker) calls out, "keer" 2022-11-30T15:45:30Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist The bull would like everyone to stop dawdling so they can just GET TO THE RIVER, PLEASE 2022-11-30T15:44:04Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist A little excited, young elk stomp through some branches 2022-11-30T15:42:32Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist While I like to know what I'm hearing, I haven't had time to find out the name of the this high-pitched tweeter 2022-11-30T15:41:07Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist Still practicing, the young Varied Thrush expands its vocabulary 2022-11-30T15:39:18Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist A young Varied Thrush practices its song, not quite confident enough to sing loudly broadcast its ethereal song to the whole woods 2022-11-30T15:37:36Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist A cow (female) mews, either to other cows for comfort or to the bull to contact her presence 2022-11-30T15:36:05Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist A close call shows off the complex layers of a bull's bugle, from the chesty roar, the almost human scream, to the high flutey notes so familiar to anyone who's heard them, and finally the laughing call, as if he's delighted himself with a good joke 2022-11-30T15:34:26Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist Sparrows, such as this Song Sparrow (I think) make the forest home 2022-11-30T15:31:59Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist A Townsend's Chipmunk yells out its territory 2022-11-30T15:30:36Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist The chatterbox of the forest, a Pacific Wren starts its song. They'll come and go throughout the morning, but when present they never cease their jittery, almost caffeine-filled song 2022-11-30T15:29:02Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist Contact calls of early rising birds 2022-11-30T15:26:50Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist Just before dawn a bull calls out, closer and closer the herd is coming. The Northern Saw-whet Owl continues it's soft background toots 2022-11-30T15:25:32Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist The soft toots of a Northern Saw-whet Owl, tiny but fierce, deep in the background distant truck engines rev in response 2022-11-30T15:23:33Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist A classic groan, a bull urges everyone forward 2022-11-30T15:19:01Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist Elk are approaching, a male bugles a call to the family group, "This way", he beckons (or "Hurry up!") 2022-11-30T15:17:46Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist 7:34am - Sunrise, Dawn ends and Day begins, the solar disc is above the horizon, good morning world 2022-11-30T15:16:04Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist 7:03am - First Light, Civil Dawn, DAWN, the solar disc is 6º below the horizon, light is bright enough for everyday activities including reading and driving with minimal lighting assistance 2022-11-30T15:14:25Z Comment by Andy Martin, Field Recordist 6:27am - Nautical Dawn, the solar disc is 12º below the horizon, light is breaking across the sky, brighter stars and the horizon are visible, making it possible for sailors to navigate by sea 2022-11-30T15:11:49Z