Episode 65: Wood Ducks in the Moonlight Swamp

Recorded on March 10, 2025, at Belmont, this is the sound of blue hour settling over the swamp at Clear Springs. Wood Ducks, paired up for the breeding season, ooeek and squeal as they glide and gracefully land between the towering water tupelos. Listeners will hear the ducks engage in ritualized drinking, preening and synchronized shakes, strengthening their bonds. A flock of White-throated Sparrows makes end-of-day chip notes from a tangle of hazel alder and Virginia sweetspire branches, their calls threading through the dusk. Beneath it all, a steady chorus of Spring Peepers plus a few Upland Chorus Frogs and Southern Leopard Frogs hum in the background, their voices rising and falling like a heartbeat, wrapping the soundscape in the pulse of early spring.