From the pre-twilight still silence to a sun-risen cacophony of birds, squirrels, and elk.
Just outside the fence of the Coffin Game Reserve in the Colockum Wildlife Area of Washington state on the morning of 2016, July 8.
An elk herd sleeps nearby. In the silent distance, coyotes yip and bay. A male elk bugles to wake the herd. A nighthawk calls in the distance. After stirring the elk migrate past the microphones. One female hangs around to investigate, but is scared away by the unusualness of the Rycote.
Birds include Mountain Chickadees, Chipping Sparrows, Western Tanagers, Hermit Thrush, Pine Siskins, Purple Finch, Common Ravens, Common Nighthawks, American Robins, and more.
The geophony is a mixture of soft grasses, ponderosa pine, rocky outcroppings, and rolling hills.
The front 1/3 of this recording has a lot of "air". The forest is still asleep, and there is little activity to keep things moving. If you want to speed through, but still get the gist, try this version, in which 20 minutes-ish of air has been excised from the front:
https://on.soundcloud.com/DL1whjtmJCCaXtTv6
Or just skip to the 40 minute mark (linked in the comments) to jump into the "action"
