The nature sounds of Uluru and the Australian desert
Sep 2nd, 2008 by andrew skeoch
The average time that visitors stay at Uluru (Ayres Rock) National Park is only one and a half days. Which is not only surprising, but very sad, as Uluru is far more than just a picture postcard to be ticked off the tourist itinerary.
Situated on the edge of the great western desert, Uluru is not only a wonderful place to experience the life of the desert, but ‘the rock’ itself also creates and protects its own range of micro-habitats for plants and wildlife.
Which is what our nature sound album ‘The Experience of Uluru’ is all about.
The first sight of Uluru appearing on the horizon over the red sand dunes is one not many visitors will forget. So also is being out on the dunes and viewing the first light of dawn on the rock. So this is where our album begins, with birdsong rippling over the dunes at dawn. Crimson chats, fairy wrens, honeyeaters, woodswallows and willie wagtails all contribute to a delicate and ephemeral dawn chorus.
The next track continues with morning birdsong from woodlands of mulga, eremophila and desert grevilia that grow on the surrounding sand plains, and features the voices of western bowerbirds, rufous whistler, crested bellbird, pallid cuckoo, tiny diamond doves, and the ’sparrows of the outback’; zebra finches, which the aboriginal people call ‘nyi-nyi’s (it’s easy to hear why).
From here we move closer to the rock itself, to the groves of ancient bloodwood trees that grow around its base. On track 3 you will hear a soft chorus of cicadas, the first gentle breeze of the morning ruffling the treecrowns, and the lovely trilling calls of rainbow bee-eaters as they glide and swoop after insects.
We follow the breeze back out onto the sand dunes for the next track; ‘Wind sighing through Desert Oaks’. These stately trees are in the casuarina family, and like their coastal cousins, the slightest movement of the air has their unique hair-like leaves sighing softly. It is an evocative and restful sound, and may remind you of the ocean. Which is poetic in a way, as early European explorers to the inland were drawn by the hope of finding a vast inland sea in the centre of Australia. Instead, they found a sea of sand, with trees that murmured like the surf. On this track you will also hear birdsong such as thornbills, woodswallows, and the distinctive ‘telephone dialling’ call of red-capped robins.
Back at the base of the rock, we stop by Mutijulu waterhole, a sheltered wetland area at the base of the rock. Water draining off the rock trickles into the pool, and a grey-headed honeyeater calls from the surrounding bloodwoods.
Nearby is Ikari Cave, a horizontal gash in the rock, home to bats and a colony of fairy martins. I love this recording, but obtaining it took some patience. Drifting vehicle noise was amplified by the shape of the cave, and the only time I could be assured of quiet was the half an hour of dusk, when tourist traffic was parked over at the other side of the rock viewing the sunset. Fortunately, this coincided with the time the martins returned to their roosts and the bats began stirring for the evening. A brown falcon can be heard calling distantly from the sandplains.
In the late afternoon light, the whole area of Kantju Gorge is bathed in a vibrant red glow reflected off the face of the rock. Here mole crickets call from grasses, and the songs of birds such as the pied butcherbird, black-faced cuckoo-shrike, and yellow-throated miners echo off the rockwalls.
‘Valley of the Winds’ takes us to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), a remarkable rock formation about 40km west of Uluru. If you’ve been there you’ll know the high domes of red rock, separated by impossibly narrow ravines. This recording was nearly not made, because pushing the record button did not seem a worthwhile thing to do at the time I was there. The wind was howling, and few birds seemed to be calling at all. Eventually I found a relatively sheltered spot, and became aware of the sound of wind roaring against the rock walls high above me. It was such a continual roar as to be almost subliminal. Once I began recording, the sparse sounds of birdsong – grey thrushes, a kestrel, mistletoebirds and a bronzewing pigeon – echoing in the ravines created a compelling acoustic picture of this unique location.
We conclude by returning to the base of the rock at dusk, once again stopping by Mutijulu waterhole. We hear a sound not many visitors experience, that of a chorus of night insects and the tapping of shoe-maker frogs. After the busy activities of the day, a peaceful tranquility descends upon the rock. Finally we hear a chorus of insects in the grasses as the last glow of desert twilight fades against the rockwalls of Uluru.
Here you can listen to a sound sample from the album.
‘The Experience of Uluru’ album is available on CD or for digital download from the Listening Earth website.
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