Songs of Spring

Gordon Hempton: BirdNote Presents.

     [Music]

Welcome to season two of Sound Escapes. I'm Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker.

As many of us stay at home to stay healthy it's easy to feel the walls of our homes or apartments closing in. But sound can set us free. All we need to do is listen.

I know the importance of being outside, but during this COVID lockdown the best I can do for many of the days is to simply open up the window.

And that's what the series is: The opening of a window, expanding your auditory horizons, and inviting you to listen.

In these eight episodes, you'll hear soundscapes I've personally selected from my thousands of hours of recordings from the wildest places on the planet.

I hope listening to this series provides some relief to those that are trapped inside because of COVID-19. 

These sound portraits are really about my love for the planet, and I hope to transfer to you that same feeling of reverence, isn't it special to be alive.

In this episode we'll listen to sounds I recorded during spring at Olympic National Park.

The winter seems like it's always long — so long that I wonder if it will ever end. And then it happens: the first songs of spring.

And I stand witness to what I can only call a miracle. How is it possible that this much beauty could be sleeping all this time? And how is it possible that I could even begin to forget? 

Olympic National Park has certainly taught me that it's possible to not only love a place, but love a place deeply at first listen. And spring is when Olympic is at its most musical.

As soon as the clouds part, temperatures begin to warm. The rains become less frequent. The Pacific chorus frogs begin. The birdsongs. The varied thrush, the grouse.

And there's much more that can be said, but I won't be saying it — because Nature already is.

Let's listen…

    [Music Fades]

     [Soundscape of Olympic National Park]

Gordon Hempton: You’ve been listening to spring at Olympic National Park.

     [Music]

Sound Escapes is produced by Mark Bramhill and John Kessler. Ashley Ahearn is our editor. Be sure to check out our website, birdnote dot org, to see photos.

This podcast is made possible by Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

Join me on our next episode when we listen deep within Ecuador's Amazon rainforest, At Zabalo River Wilderness Quiet Park — the first quiet park in the world.

I’m Gordon Hempton. Thanks for joining me.

    [Music fades]