Kentucky Swamp – April 15, 1995 at 11pm. Land Between the Lakes, near Energy Lake, Kentucky. © Lang Elliott. Image shutterstock modified.

Note: The recording featured above is a “3D binaural soundscape”. Please wear headphones for a profound listening experience that will make you think you’re actually out there, immersed in the natural world!

Land Between the Lakes is one of our favorite locations for enjoying the sounds of nature. One year, we visit in mid-April and arrive just as the sun sets. The scene is exquisite, with a white-tailed deer silhouetted against the red sky. As darkness descends, we make our way to a swampy area next to a lake and are shocked by the number of whip-poor-wills, their repeated songs mixing with the bright notes of spring peepers and the chirps of field crickets.

Great blue herons croak excitedly from the far side of the swamp, their raspy talkings lasting for quite a long time. We also hear the tail slaps of a beaver, chewing sounds, and the chuckling of distant leopard frogs. And that’s not all … a deer suddenly snorts and pounds its hooves against the ground, eventually bounding away. Minutes later, another does the same.

What an amazing night chorus … so alive and full of sounds. We pray that generations to come will also behold such splendor, nature speaking in countless tongues!

My Thoughts:

This recording is “bustling with sound.” There is not a moment of stillness for the entire duration. No possibility of listening to the silence that cradles the concert, the void from which it emanates. Normally, this would mean that the soundscape is mostly engaging or captivating and therefore not a good candidate for meditation or relaxation; there’s simply too much going on. But is this actually true?

Rather than try to answer that question myself, I ask you, my audience of listeners, to chime-in. Let me know what you think … is it meditative, relaxing, engaging, captivating or what? Where does this recording fit in the grand scheme of nature soundscape appreciation?

Please share your thoughts below!

Naturally Yours,

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