In my attempt to try new and different things to explore the world around me, I attended the inaugural “Sounds of Nature” event held in the spring of this year at the Warner Park Nature Center.
They hope to hold this type of event every quarter, one per season. The next event is scheduled for July 27 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. It is free to the public and you just have to register online to attend.
Rachael Carter, a self-described “naturalist”—meaning she “celebrates species of all kinds”—began the session by asking, “How often do we take the time to listen to nature?” Personally, if I’m honest, I almost NEVER do!
She continued with some relaxation/meditation techniques including a breathing exercise.
Then she encouraged participants to focus their senses, especially on the things we hear and see around us. Then it was about our breathing and our pulse until we reached a state of restful calm. It was very zen!
As various nature sounds played in the background, she explained that each species has a unique sound that is its way of communicating.
We were given a pen and paper and encouraged to listen and draw things based on the images and sounds we heard. She wanted us to translate the sounds we heard into a visual representation of what we were feeling.
I didn't do very well with this part of the exercise. I can't even draw a straight line with a ruler — even my stick figures/animals are seriously flawed!
Despite everything, I learned A LOT of things during my outing! Here are some examples:
- Did you know that there are 3 different types of cicadas? I didn't know that! There are actually annual cicadas called dog day cicadas that come out every year, and then there are periodic cicadas that come out some every 13 years, some every 17 years! The temperature of the ground lets each type of cicada know when to come out. Some make chirping sounds, some make pulsating sounds, and some make sounds like crashing waves.
- Did you know that there are different levels of sound, namely surface sounds that we can hear and others that we cannot hear. Many of these sounds occur underwater and 90% of insects make sounds that we CANNOT hear to communicate.
- Ravens are REALLY smart! They can replicate a complex eight-step process without instruction, and they can even recognize faces! (This fact made me smile! When I was young, I once told my mother that she reminded me of my FAVORITE bird: a raven! She did NOT take that well. Maybe if she had known that information, she would have taken it better!)
- Humpback whale songs have helped keep them from going extinct, and only males sing.
- The sperm whale has the largest brain of any animal on Earth, weighing up to 20 pounds!
If, like me, you enjoy learning obscure facts about the world around you, this might be worth a look!
