Seth Swaaley

California Grassland Wildlife is a collection of 95 Stereo and 33 Quad Recordings of over 30 different species of birds that can be found in Grassland, Plains, and High Desert Environments.  Also included are a few recordings of Coyotes, Grasshoppers, Insects.  Some other quieter ambiences are included as well.

Most of the recordings from this library took place in The Carrizo Plain, an open expanse of Grassland that spans 50 miles long and 15 miles wide West of the Mojave Desert in California’s Central Valley.  It’s an arid area far from any towns, and a fairly harsh environment that most years gets very little rain.  A number of dirt roads go on for miles and stretch across the flat plain and hilly landscape, eventually leading up to the Temblor and Caliente Ranges.  Abandoned and weathered dilapidated remnants of old ranches, water tanks, barns, metal sheds, farm machinery, vehicles, and corrals from a bygone era of the west can be discovered if one ventures off the beaten path.

At first glance, one wouldn’t think there’d be much wildlife out there, but I discovered it’s an area that has quite a bit going on.  A lot of the old structures, along with the few areas with trees become the resting place and shelters for birds and animals.  Over a span of two years I made a number of trips to this location trying to capture as much of the local wildlife as I could.  

Included are sounds from Dawn, Morning, Afternoon, Dusk, and late evening.  Perspectives vary from extremely close to medium and distant.  I’ve split out the sounds by species and more Active, Medium, Specific, in order to give a lot of flexibility when trying to use these sounds for projects.

Barn Owls chirping overhead, the single rhythmic call of Bell’s Sparrows, the close hooting of Great Horned Owl’s, the constant cooing of Doves, Ravens slowly traveling over an open field, Finches swarming and providing quite the cacophony.  Detailed sounds of wings of birds and grasshoppers.  Coyotes howling in the distance.  It was a lot of fun putting this one all together.

California Grassland Abandoned is the companion library to this one and is more focused on Ambiences, winds, and sounds from Abandoned Structures.

Prominent Birds with multiple recordings

Barn Owl, Bell’s Sparrow, Bullock’s Oriole, Cassin’s Kingbird, Common Nighthawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, House Finch, Great Horned Owl, Mourning Dove, Raven, Say’s Phoebe, Western Kingbird

Other Birds Featured

Ash-throated Flycatcher, Bewick’s Wren, Brewer’s Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, California Quail, California Towhee, European Starling, Hooded Oriole, Horned Lark, House Wren, Least Bittern, Mountain Bluebird, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Rock Wren, Sagebrush Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Spotless Starling, Western Meadowlark.

Metadata

All files have been carefully mastered.  Detailed Metadata and labeling of species has been provided so that all of the sounds are easily accessible.  Photos have been embedded with each file to help out with getting an idea of what birds are typical in particular landscapes.  UCS compliant, markers have been placed throughout the files to allow for quicker navigation.

The Gear

Sound Devices MixPre-3

Sound Devices MixPre-6

Mics

Sennheiser MKH 8020

Sennheiser MKH 8040

Sennheiser MKH 8040+MKH 30 MS

Sennheiser MKH 8040 Pair + MKH 30 DMS

A / B Spacing was used with the MKH 8020’s. ORTF with the MKH 8040, along with a MKH 30 in MS and Double MS.

MS Recordings have been decoded to Stereo and Double MS have been decoded to Quad Format.