Although it’s been cold and gloomy most of the week, the birds in the forest have been active and very vocal. I heard the normal winter birds - owls, chickadees, and nuthatches - and a few spring arrivals such as geese, pine siskin, robins, cardinals, etc. I am not an expert at identifying birds by their calls, so I rely heavily on the Merlin ID app to help me out.
I also listen to the sounds of nature for clues to what’s around me, possible weather and seasonal changes, and such. Did you know that the squirrels in my area are a pretty good predictor of what type of winter we’ll have? If there are a lot of squirrel arguments in late summer - aggressive-sounding chatter with chasing - we are going to have a hard winter. I’m assuming they are arguing about resources and guarding their stockpiles. In the fifteen years I’ve lived here it’s been a pretty accurate indicator.
The peepers singing, the geese calling, the “pinging” of the ice on the creek - all these are the sounds that spring is imminent. And it’s the cicadas that tell me summer will end in about a month’s time.
This is the sound map in my area that I continue to add to and modify each season and each year. It’s the aural part of my nature journaling practice that adds yet another layer to my learning about and my relationship with the natural world.
For this week’s prompt, we’re making a sound map. There are many ways to go about this, but simply it’s about focusing on what you hear and noting it in your journal. A more formal method is to sit somewhere (like your sit spot), take a few deep breaths to settle in, close your eyes, and let your auditory sense take over. Do this for a few minutes, then note what you heard in your journal. Can you identify the sound? Can you describe it? What direction in relation to where you are did it come from?
Now open your eyes and record in your journal what physically surrounds you and try to place that sound in this habitat. Did the sound come from the trees, a patch of grass, or some bushes? Do you see an animal or insect that may have made that sound? What activity is going on around you?
Close your eyes again - can you add anything to your auditory inventory? Continue to add your aural observations to your journal noting the date, time, weather, and other information that will help weave this information into the bigger picture of your environment.
When I first started making sound maps I was very conscious of what I was doing, but it has become second nature and now a sound map is always a part of my nature journal entry.
Have fun this week, and share in the chat if you’d like!
Hi Susannah ..I love the concept of sound map -My ears are not really well utilized in relation to hearing nature that is directly in front of my nose. This Spring has been a little different as the songs of the birds represent life returning to the landscape. The mornings are acutely musical -as is all of the action in the sky above. I will definitely pay more attention to the squirrels too ;-) These last posts have inspired me to find a sit spot and to add my natural world to my sketchbook practise.