Sounds of Sleeping Bear Dunes: Tranquility Interrupted on Otter Creek
Darrin Wassom Darrin Wassom

Sounds of Sleeping Bear Dunes: Tranquility Interrupted on Otter Creek

Welcome to episode 24 of the Nature is my Jam podcast! As always, I’m happy to see you again and can’t wait to share this episode with you. This episode is a continuation of the recording I did last week at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. What intrigues me most about this part of the night is how quiet it can get after periods of intense activity. The beavers have moved to other parts of the creek or simply went back to their lodge. As the wind picks up, we hear some crickets and blowing leaves. There is an occasional stirring of some geese and an occasional creak from an old tree. It’s a pure joy to sit back and take it in. It reminds me of sitting on the back porch during a thunderstorm. 

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Sounds of Sleeping Bear Dunes: Beavers at Otter Lake
Darrin Wassom Darrin Wassom

Sounds of Sleeping Bear Dunes: Beavers at Otter Lake

Welcome to episode 22 of the Nature is my Jam podcast! As always, I’m happy to see you again and can’t wait to share this episode with you. The weather here in northern Michigan has been unseasonably warm, with temperatures in the low 60’s (around 15.5 Celsius for the rest of the world). The leaves have fallen and we would normally be gearing up for the first big snow of the year but Mother Nature has other ideas. Fall is my favorite time of year so I’m not complaining! I went to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore yesterday to hike the Otter Creek Loop, which is part of the Platte Plains Trail. It is a roughly 5 mile (8km) loop that meanders through gently rolling hills and takes you along the creek and all the way around Otter Lake. In addition to completing the loop and getting in some miles, I also wanted to find some sounds to record.

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Sounds of Mexico: Birdsong on the Yucatan Peninsula
Darrin Wassom Darrin Wassom

Sounds of Mexico: Birdsong on the Yucatan Peninsula

Welcome to episode 22 of the Nature is my Jam podcast! As always, I’m happy to see you again. This week, we are in a small jungle area a few miles outside of the resort where we were staying on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The resorts in Mexico are stunningly beautiful and cater to your every need, but are a horrible place for trying to record nature sounds. Knowing I could not get a clean recording at the resort, I plotted a course to a nearby Cenote that would take me through a couple of small towns and into a more secluded area of the surrounding jungle. 

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Sounds of Northern Michigan: On the Banks of Twenty-Two Creek
Darrin Wassom Darrin Wassom

Sounds of Northern Michigan: On the Banks of Twenty-Two Creek

This episode is for a friend that is fighting the occasional sleepless night. The last episode (wind noise) didn’t help him so I thought I’d record some creeks sounds, in the hopes it does the trick. Here’s to the original hobbit hailing from Lowell by way of East Kentwood and East Lansing. A brother, friend and fellow Spartan. 

Welcome to episode 21 of the Nature is my Jam podcast! As always, I’m happy to see you again. This week, we are on the banks of Twenty-Two Creek in my hometown of Traverse City, Michigan. Twenty-Two Creek is a shallow and meandering creek that runs along the North Country Scenic Trail and is a prominent feature in the Valley of the Giants. Its gentle gurgling sounds are the backdrop for views of stunning trees that are hundreds of years old. 

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