Listening Earth Blog

A Rufous Woodpecker flew across the open meadow, toward the grove of pine trees in which I was sound recording. It landed on a tree nearby, and I could see its lovely, rusty plumage illuminated by the first rays of morning sunlight. They defy gravity, these large woodpeckers, clinging to tree trunks with formidable claws, and often hopping along the undersides of branches. After a cursory inspection of the tree, the woodpecker took wing again, simultaneously filling the air with its electrifying call; a mixture of “Keik, keik, keik…” and a metallic clinking that is absolutely indescribable.

I was becoming aware that this morning’s sound recording was not going to be a soothing and gentle one!

Sarah and I were in the north of Thailand, in a landscape unique to this region. We were in Thung Salaeng Luang National Park, having arrived the previous day. After negotiating a 50 km dirt track which wound through subtropical jungle, we found ourselves surveying a surprising vista - a broad open plateau with high grass and groves of stately pine trees. These meadows, some of them ten or more kilometres across, are renowned among Thai nature lovers as wonderful places to establish a peaceful campsite and safely explore. After rains in autumn the meadows are carpeted in wildflowers, and now in spring, they were vibrant with birdsong.

We had indeed found our secluded campsite, but had trouble sleeping. Throughout the night the pines whispered in the breeze, and nightbirds seemed to be numerous - it was too interesting to sleep!

I arose while it was still dark, and began my recording with those night sounds all around me. I was expecting a brisk dawn chorus, a cacophony of birdsong. However it didn’t happen like that. The dawn chorus gathered momentum slowly, creeping up on me like the light gradually filling the sky. At one point I realised that the whole landscape had become alive with birdsong, as far as I could hear, in all directions. I felt a little overwhelmed with sounds new or only vaguely familiar. I was still listening out into the far distance when that Rufous Woodpecker flew in and brought me back to my immediate surroundings.

We have recently released an album featuring this recording: ‘Asian Meadow’.

It is an album of dynamics and natural contrasts, and begins very quietly with those nightsounds. If you set your listening volume too loud, you will likely have to turn it down later, as the dawn chorus grows. You can hear the open spaces of the meadow, sounds nearby or echoing from a long way off. The diversity of birdsong is quite extraordinary; barbets, cuckoo-shrikes, minivets, quail, francolins, prinias and bulbulls can all be heard among the dawn chorus. When it subsides, the first whisperings of a breeze in the pines may be heard. We’ve concluded the album with a lovely recording of Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters chattering animatedly in the golden light of late afternoon.

To get the most from this recording, firstly have a look at the photos that accompany the album on our website. Then listen closely, and let your imagination take you somewhere special - a place in Asia which is unique and full of life.

I should say though, the album comes with a small caution: “Warning: Woodpecker Overhead!”

Click here to listen to a sound sample of ‘Asian Meadow’

This album is available for digital download exclusively from the Listening Earth website.

Tags: meditation music, National Parks, natural sounds, nature CD, nature download, nature music, nature sounds, sounds of nature, Thailand, Thung Salaeng Luang National Park