Sounds of Old Mission Peninsula: Rainy Night in the Woods

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Welcome to episode 19 of the Nature is my Jam podcast! We find ourselves out on the Old Mission Peninsula (OMP) in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. The OMP is one of my favorite places to roam, especially on moody days such as I found during this recording. With rain and wind in the forecast, this was going to be a perfect opportunity to test out some new gear. As I mentioned after the trip to the upper peninsula, I upgraded the wind protection for my microphone and also added in some protection from the rain. I’m happy to report that both additions worked perfectly during this wet and windy night.

Rhonda joined me, so we drove out to the Murray Road Trailhead to begin our hike along the trails belonging to the Old Mission Point Park. This section of trail goes through various meadows, along several ridge lines, and plunges down into a valley containing what is best described as a climax forest. A climax forest exists when the plant community is relatively stable and unchanged over many cycles. Think of mature trees that represent the last stage of natural succession. There is very little undergrowth or competition from other species. There is debate in the community about the merits of a climax forest that are too nuanced for this blog post, but the primary question is, “should a forest ever stop evolving and not face competition?”

Once we setup the microphone, we took a path that we thought would lead us back to Murray Road and eventually back to our car. 20 minutes later, as the woods grew darker, we missed the spur trail and bushwhacked through meadows full of tall grass and acres of Sumac Trees. For me, this is a very regular occurrence, but I think Rhonda would prefer to stay on maintained trails. With pitch black skies, increasing wind and hunger waning on our patience, we finally found the road, and it was just a 5-minute walk to the car. The bonus of getting momentarily disoriented was finding a creaking old tree that would be amazing to record during a storm.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and hope you enjoy this episode. Thanks again for your continued support!

Recording Summary:

• Date and Time: 10/12/2022 | 1:30 AM
• Location: Grand Traverse County, Michigan, USA
• Landscape/Feature: Old Mission Point Park | Ridgeline facing a climax forest
• Conditions: Warm, Rain, Wind
• Recording Device: Zoom F3 Field Recorder
• Microphone(s): Audio Technica BP 4025
• Digital Audio Workstation: Adobe Audition

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