Sensing Environments: Overnight Forest, Bli Bli - Blake Cawthan

8 ECHOES

Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Blake Cawthan

Hi there. Welcome to my immersive experience featuring recordings from my local forest. You will hear from a collection of birds, bugs and the trees themselves.

These recordings are taken late in the evening, allowing you to hear sounds from within the forest you might not usually, whether that’s due to not feeling comfortable or safe in that area, not having access or just not wanting to be eaten alive by mosquitos.

This experience is wheelchair accessible, with each Echo reachable along the footpaths and there are also nearby chairs and benches.

Note that the Echoes will loop if you stay within them, and the 8th Echo plays louder the closer you are to the centre.

Please be aware of other people and the wildlife on campus, especially the kangaroos.

1 - Acknowledgement of Country

Always was, always will be. VO: ‘This project was made in Bli Bli on the Sunshine Coast. Bli Bli’s name is derived from the Kabi word Billai, meaning swamp oak tree or sheoak tree - which is found in the local wetlands. Now I would invite you to join me in acknowledging the Kabi Kabi people, the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters on which I live, work and study. I pay my respects to local Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging and recognise the strength, resilience and capacity of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.’

1 sound

2 - About the Pine Forest

Picture: Close up of the bark of the slash pine trees of the forest. A little about the location. VO: ‘These recordings were taken in the Old Bli Bli School, School Road Park, which is essentially a monoculture pine forest, containing Pinus elliottii aka slash pine. The site lacks records dictating whether it was a monoculture lumber plantation, or if the pines spread there from one. Regardless, the acidic needle litter of these trees alters the soil pH and suppresses understory growth and provides local wildlife with a starkly different biome to the nearby Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary.’

1 sound

3 - Currawong Flock

Picture: Pied Currawong Bird This recording heavily features the calls of a flock of Pied Currawongs, which are believed to be named after several different Australian Aboriginal names for the bird that sound similar to one of their calls. Easily identified by their yellow eyes, they prefer to settle near inhabited locations and will bully other species out to do so.

1 sound

4 - Kookaburras 1

Picture: Two Kookaburras and one Pied Currawong sitting on a powerline at night. Several Kookaburras make their iconic laugh at around 8 pm despite not being nocturnal birds. They are one of the few local birds comfortable standing up to the Currawongs.

1 sound

5 - Kookaburras 2

Picture: 5 Kookaburras sharing a tv antenna, two of which have their beaks locked together. Bugs hum along as more kookaburras cry out - they usually only do this at night when they have spotted a territorial threat such as a predator or rival kookaburra flock.

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6 - Assorted Birds

Picture: A spectrogram showing the different frequencies and noise levels of this recording. Amongst more Currawongs, smaller birds chirp as they fly through the forest - something flutters it’s wings near the recording equipment.

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7 - The Forest Floor

Picture: An astrophotography image featuring the stary night sky between the canopy of the forest. This recording features sounds from the forest floor, including snapping branches, pine cones falling from above, and other possible foraging critters such as brush turkeys.

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8 - Composition of the Forest

Picture: The canopy of the forest, showing the crown shyness of the pines. This final recording uses spatialization (so it’s louder towards the centre of the Echo). Unlike the other Echos, this features several recordings layered together to give you an immersive and vibrant forest experience.

1 sound