Sounds of the North Country Trail: Nocturnal Wildlife or Things That Purr in the Night

Nature Is My Jam

Welcome to the 9th episode of the Nature is my Jam Podcast! I have been spending a lot of time hiking sections of the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) that are near my house. This episode finds us next to an unnamed lake that sits between Guernsey Lake and the Sand Lakes area in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. This is a very cool section of trail because it intersects with the Sand Lakes Quiet Area Pathway and the Kalkaska to Traverse City Trail (K to TC Trail), which combines several trails to create a route between the two towns. The K to TC Trail is also part of the annual Iceman Cometh Mountain Bike Race.

I headed out towards the Guernsey Lake State Forest Campground to scope out the campsites and geographic features of the area. I will spend a few nights at this campground soon, but as I was looking at the map on Gaia, I saw a small unnamed lake that had a steep ridge on one side and was on the NCT. This type of terrain always interests me because I can use the ridge to minimize external noise pollution and it also means wildlife will probably use the trail to make their way to the lake.

Nightfall was approaching, so I found a place to park that was only 1.5 miles away from the lake. The trail is extremely well-marked and the strategic placement of markers where multiple trail systems intersected is a welcome touch. As I approached the lake, I noticed a stand of phragmites (an invasive species) in the middle of the small lake being circled by thousands of European Starlings (also an invasive species but ubiquitous in Michigan). As I watched the birds circling and roosting in the invasive reeds, I wondered if I could capture them as they departed in the morning. Imagining a loud whooshing sound as thousands of birds awoke and took off to start their day, I placed my recorder next to the lake in some tall grass and pointed the microphone in their direction.

Overnight recording using a drop rig is one of my favorite ways to record natural soundscapes. I can place the recorder and leave for several hours or days, which minimizes my presence and minimizes the disruption to local wildlife. I believe I get a truer representation of the natural patterns and cycles of the wildlife than I would if I was sitting next to the recorder the entire time. Of course, this is usually not a viable option on popular trails or congested areas.

I am quite pleased with this recording. As I had hoped, the Starlings were active and put on quite a display several times throughout the night. As you will hear on this episode, something approached the reeds and spooked them multiple times. You will also hear what I believe to be a Raccoon approaching the microphone. It sniffs the mic and also starts purring. Yes, purring. I could be wrong, but of all the animals that I know to purr (Bobcats, Black Bear, Domestic Cats, etc), the splashing of the water and the plop of little feet makes me think it is a Raccoon. Let me know your thoughts!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! ❤️ Your support means the world to me. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter for daily updates.