Upland Rainforest Morning – Far North Queensland
Just back from a trip to Far North Queensland to record sounds as the rainy season begins. This part of Australia is particularly rich in wildlife diversity, mostly due to the variety of different habitats you can find in a relatively small area. For example: lowland rainforest, high-altitude rainforest, wet eucalypt forest, dry open woodland and wetlands can all be found within a 50km radius in some places.
I’ll post a number of recordings from this trip over the coming weeks, but for now here is a sample recorded in upland rainforest in Wooroonooran National Park. This particular sample was recorded with a pair of LOM UsiPro microphones positioned on either side of a tree trunk (with a Sound Devices 702 recorder). The image at the bottom of this page shows the setup. The tree acts as a natural baffle between the left and right channels and to my ears creates a very pleasing stereo image when listening on both headphones and desk speakers. One challenge using this method in the tropics is almost every tree trunk is a highway for ants! So I generally spray the microphone windshields, straps and bag with insect repellent to discourage the ants from munching on the equipment.
In this recording you can hear the sounds of Wompoo Fruit Dove, Superb Fruit Dove, Brown Cuckoo Dove, Spotted Catbird, Grey-headed Robin, Bower’s Shrikethrush, Eastern Whipbird, Victoria’s Riflebird and more.
