Soundscapes of Kubah National Park, Borneo
The pure, natural soundscapes of Kubah National Park in Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo) are some of the most intense I have ever experienced.
Dawn begins with what some have nicknamed the ‘Morning Fanfare’ cicada (Gogala & Trilar), an insect species with a distinctive call that sounds like a cross between a car alarm and a donkey braying! Barbets, trogons, broadbills and many other birds call intensely for the first hour or so of the day, after which they call less frequently as they search for food in the forest.
All of the following three samples are cut from tracks on the album ‘Rhythm of Kubah‘.
At dusk, the world’s largest cicada species takes the stage with one of the loudest calls of any insect – the Empress Cicada (Pomponia Imperatoria). It’s sawing calls pulsate through the forest, as the calls of birds gradually fade and other cicada species, as well as crickets, katydids and other insects join the night shift.
If you want to hear an even richer dusk chorus, visit Kubah’s frog pond just before dusk when several frog species add their voices into the mix.
Rainforest in Kubah National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia