Sounds Southern

Recorded on June 20, 2026 at the dogtrot, this is the sound of an afternoon rainshower settling over the pasture. The light summer shower seems to please the birds, who continue singing while foraging and preening in the soft rain.Listeners will hear Carolina Wren, Carolina Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Parula, House Finch, Downy Woodpecker, Red-eyed Vireo, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, Purple Martin, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hooded Warbler and Wood Thrush. Sounds Southern Extended will hear over an hour of the gentle summer sounds, perfect for relaxing or meditating.

Recorded on June 18, 2026 at the dogtrot, this is the sound of a summer insect chorus of katydids, crickets and cicadas. Overhead, a slender waxing crescent moon hangs above the western horizon while a striking planetary alignment places Venus, Jupiter and Mercury together in the night sky.

Recorded on June 13, 2026 at the dogtrot on the Moonpie Deck, this is the sound of the summer dawn chorus in the garden. Crickets greet the morning alongside the buzz of honeybees and the hum of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, while the male hummingbirds delivers their distinctive daybreak chip song. The chorus includes Wood Thrush, American Crow, Red-winged Blackbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Pine Warbler, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Carolina Wren, Purple Martin, Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Northern Parula, Indigo Bunting, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Prairie Warbler, House Finch, Great Crested Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat, Pileated Woodpecker and Blue Jay.

Recorded on May 31, 2026 on the sleeping porch, this is the sound of a midnight rainshower. Crickets and frogs continue their nighttime chorus as rain dances across the metal roof and plays the raindrum.

Recorded on May 20, 2026 in the woods at Cold Springs, this is the sound of an evening frog chorus following a day of rain and warm temperatures. As darkness settles over the woods, frogs flock to the ephemeral pools, seeps and flooded low places in search of mates, filling the woods with a layered chorus of calls. Listeners will hear the hollow bark of the Barking Treefrog, the rising waaaa of Fowler’s Toads, the resonant glunk of Green Frogs, the chuckling calls of Southern Leopard Frogs and the musical trills of American Toads. Together they create a rich soundtrack to a spring evening in the woods.

Recorded on May 31, 2026 at Heart Place, this is the sound of the dawn chorus in the pasture near Heart Pond. As the first light spreads across the field, Indigo Bunting, Wood Thrush, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal and Mourning Dove greet the day, joined by Eastern Kingbird, Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellow-throated Warbler, Summer Tanager and Blue Grosbeak. Other voices in the chorus include Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Carolina Chickadee, Red-winged Blackbird, Carolina Wren, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Brown-headed Cowbird, Orchard Oriole, Blue Jay, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Flicker, American Robin, Great Crested Flycatcher, Northern Parula, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Crow, Common Yellowthroat, Red-eyed Vireo, Chipping Sparrow and Downy Woodpecker.

Recorded on May 20, 2026 at Sardis Lake after a day of rain, this is the sound of a late-spring frog chorus. Barking Treefrogs, whose short, hollow calls resemble the bark of a beagle on the trail of a rabbit, join Fowler’s Toads American Toads, Green Frogs, and Southern Leopard Frogs along the flooded edges and backwaters. Drip fall from the day’s rain continues to fall from the trees and surrounding vegetation while, as darkness settles in, some of the season’s first fireflies begin putting on a show across in the mixed woods.

Recorded on May 9, 2026 on the Way Out West deck, this is the sound of the dawn chorus as the last of the spring warblers move through the hill country. A Prairie Warbler takes center stage, its buzzy zee-zee-zee-zee-zee-zeeeee carrying across the morning air and out over the spring meadow.Joining the chorus are Yellow-breasted Chat, Northern Cardinal, American Crow, Wood Thrush, Carolina Wren, Brown-headed Cowbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Blue Jay, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Orchard Oriole, Carolina Chickadee, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse, Purple Martin, Northern Parula, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, American Robin, Eastern Bluebird and Northern Mockingbird.

Recorded on May 18, 2026 at Sardis Lake, this is the sound of a group of Chuck-will’s-widows, also known as an invisibility, calling through the night as the sun sinks below the horizon and cricket and frog sounds begin to fill the mixed woods along the backwaters of the upper lake. Sounds Southern Extended listeners will hear the rolling call-and-response of two nightjars, with the closer bird working steadily to defend its territory against a rival moving through the darkness.