Night Birds on the Noyo River

The Harbor for Fort Bragg, California is in the mouth of the Noyo River. It is a small port, but large enough for some fishing boats, expedition boats and some good seafood restaurants. The hills around Fort Bragg have been logged for over 100 years. As a result there is a good set of, fairly well developed but not well used logging roads that criss cross hither and yon. One of these roads runs alongside the Noyo River.

One dark night our stealthy recordist carried all of their gear about a mile up this road to a place where a bridge crossed the river. They set up the mics in the center of the bridge facing up stream.

It was a temperate night. There were a number of interesting birds calling back and forth. you can hear the occasional sounding of the harbor horn echoing up the river canyon from a mile away. ...And that low rumble you hear in the background? That is the ocean surf. Our recordist was perhaps a mile and a half or more from any place where the surf would be breaking but in Fort Bragg the sound of the surf is so pervasive—and it walks so easily over the buildings of the town—that you can hear it in this recording.