A rainy night with owls beside a waterhole in the desert

SOUNDS LIKE: The pressure release of rain drops hitting parched red sand after a sweltering day and possibly the best owl recording that Ann has ever taken. CONTAINS: Patches of rain, and distant frogs happy with the rain, kingfishers with insomnia. And a spectacular territorial display from barking owls. RECOMMENDED FOR: Lovers of weather, of romance and whimsy, and also of birds-which-sound-like-they're-anything-but-birds enthusiasts. ANN'S NERDY SOUND NOTES: This is an incredibly dramatic place — and a special place in Yinjibarndi lore. It definitely has that gravitas. The water is surrounded in part by dark red, iron-filled cliff faces, cool grey-blue spinifex clumps and immense river red gums right at the water's edge. Even in the middle of the night, and even when it is raining enough to form puddles on the sand, the waterholes of arid Australia are centres of activity. So, although the landscape is all red sand and rocks, spinifex and heat haze, beside this spring-fed waterhole at Millstream Chichester National Park in the Pilbara in WA, it is pure, cool air. The water in this pool is so deep and cool that it gives you goosebumps if you jump in, even when it's 40 degrees in the shade. And the string of waterholes here are home to huge Pilbara Olive Pythons , which grow up to 4m long and can stay motionless for days on end waiting for the perfect meal to come too close. They can eat a whole rock wallaby in a sitting. Maybe they're the ones responsible for some of the quiet movements in this recording (which is, side note, possibly one of the most wonderfully surprising recordings I have ever taken). Not one, not two, not three but MORE nocturnal bird species all making themselves known between the rain patches. Magic. From the lands of the Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi people listen to raindrops hit dusty surfaces. 00:00:00 Hear the rain pattering on the water, and the occasional 'tong' as a drop hits the microphone or a branch of the tree the microphone is attached to. Incredibly, you can hear a distant boobook (which sounds like its name boo-book) calling AND An owlet nightjar chirring (sounds a little bit like the turbo flutter on a souped-up car. If it was toy sized). 00:01:15 You may be able to hear the first hints of the star of this show. Not the boobook, but its larger cousin, who will approach closer and closer throughout this recording. 00:02:30 A tiny sacred kingfisher is calling in the middle of the night. It sounds like one of those toy dogs they sell at markets that walk round and round in tight circles. In fact, I suspect this is two kingfishers. They may be calling to keep in touch with each other in the darkness, or even as they migrate (many birds travel at night). 00:04:54 There is a sound like a computer mouse clicking but I have no idea who makes it, whether it is an insect or a movement of another critter, perhaps a grasshopper eating dry grass, the sound of the tree 'relaxing'? Please let me know if you have an idea.  00:04:55 There is a very high pitched squeaking. Could it be a rodent? A marsupial? an Insect?  00:05:34 A distant scream. It sounds metallic, like shed door being slid back. This is probably a barn owl — a wonderfully handsome owl with white chest feathers and a disc face. THOUGH, it could also be another bird getting a fright like… 00:06.10 Your ears do not deceive you it is barking owl. There is a pair in residence, and throughout this recording they will get closer and closer. I believe this is the male. 00:06:35 in other contexts I would say this is definitely a woodpecker. But in Australia we don't have them. Perhaps a water bird growl? A frog? A Tree with a backache? 00:12:40 Heavier rain here for a time.  00:13:12 Though it sounds like a meow, or a whine, this is actually more likely to be a mosquito-like insect whirring past. 00:18:5 0 Here you can feel the breeze building and the start of light rain. You might hear the rustling of grass, or leaves touching