love it

Ashley Ahearn did a fabulous job with this topic. Engaging, multifaceted, full of both facts and passion--and the mesmerizing sound of grouse mating displays.

Informative and engaging. Keep it coming!

Good podcast. Loved learning about birds. Highly recommend

Never written a review before but why oh why does a nature/environment podcast start out with a casual anecdote about killing a snake, particularly when it has nothing to do with the story? If you felt you needed to kill the snake fine, I guess, but why would an environmental reporter promote this behavior (to this audience??) when our snake friends already have such a needlessly bad rap. This reads as blatantly irresponsible to me.

Absolutely addicting..thank you for teaching me about this beautiful bird. Great journalism..I was in tears at the end!

As a biologist, I was really excited about this podcast. I was disappointed by how shallow the episodes were. She barely scratches the surface of the topic in each episode before turning each one toward herself. The whole program seemed more about the reporter’s personal (rather uninteresting) journey than about the grouse. Opening the program with her killing a rattlesnake started off on the wrong foot. Seems she’s just another city person who’s moved to nature to find herself, but can’t tolerate the nature part of it. If you’re wanting to learn something scientific, look elsewhere. I heard about this podcast through Timber Wars, which is outstanding!

Interesting to talk about the importance of a species in the ecosystem and why they should be protected, yet she describes heartlessly killing a snake in the first episode with no remorse. If she was concerned about it harming her dog she could have relocated it. Poor conservation reporting because she is blind to the value of all species.

I have a friend from college who has spent time out in the sagebrush researching the lesser prairie chicken. I learned a lot about the fight to save it, not just from a bunch of disconnected environmentalists from urban areas who have no idea what people on the east side of the cascades experience, but from some of the folks out there who know that the loss of sage grouse habitat means a lot more than the loss of a bird.

I love Ashley’s work; that being said, i was also going to write after hearing her relish in crawling under the NEW deck to stab & kill the rattlesnake that had moved in; i couldn’t go back to listening to any more of the podcasts once i heard those words come out of her mouth! Yes, you were worried about your dog (AND YOU) that should know better *they offer avoidance training* or you could have called the local wildlife agency who will help RELOCATE....but no, you were on some path to be a human at the top of the food chain. I haven’t gotten back to any of your stories yet...i hope you have taken a look at your actions; i knew i couldn’t have been the only one to wonder where was your sense of letting nature just be without having to control it.

Ashley Ahearn did an amazing job of presenting the materials without much of a activist slant. She interviewed parties from all angles that have an interest in the ground that the Sage Grouse live on. I feel like I learned a lot about the Sage Grouse from listening to this. Thank you for your caring presentation on this subject.

It was very informative on the issue at hand with the Sage Grouse. It was unfortunate that Ashley Ahearn presented herself as a reporter when she is in fact a lib advocate. The issues like the Sage Grouse will never get resolved. None of the players benefit from a solution. The bureaucracy is designed to feed itself and scientists prove once again that 97% of scientists agree.......with whoever is funding them.

It’s past time to redefine what success is in journalism. This podcast doesn’t follow the tried and true method of framing a story as good versus evil, of black versus white. Things are rarely if ever that simple. In highlighting the complexities, in painting us the gray areas, Ashley gets you to think. No, there’s no ultimate conclusion and solution, but challenging us to look deeper may be all that’s necessary. Great work and worth a listen. #grouse

Move out to nature, start killing wildlife (rattlesnake killing) before you understand its biological niche in YOUR NEW surroundings — all you ever wanted to do was write stories about science, nature and the environment? Gee, great start. And a labradoodle? Yeah, you’re a real bio/enviro buff. Can’t wait to hear more. Um, on second thought...yes, I can.

This Eastern woman just spent a year in the West and am trying to catch up on the environmental issues that are so different from what we live with in the East. Thank you, Ashley (and fabulous crew) for producing such an interesting, personal and beautiful account of a bird that can’t speak for itself.

GAAAHH Grouse in its first episode in unlistenable to a vegan bird lover. How can someone boast so proudly of her “environmental” work in the same episode in which she: bought a dog, rides/bought a horse, kills a snake AND rounds up cattle? Maybe we don’t get anywhere with environmental news or change because even libs can’t give up their meat.

I always enjoy Ashley Ahearn’s reporting, especially when her story is set in the inland northwest. Thank you from a fellow Methow Valley transplant: We may never be true “locals,” but we can love this place just as fiercely.

I love this podcast! Such a story of the West, and I love the reporting and personal immersion into the story. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for more. As a biologist and native Coloradan, and just an older version of a girl who always wanted to be a cowboy, this podcast is resonating with me on so many delicious levels. It’s also so well produced. If anything is going to help people care about grouse, this is it. Thank you for making this!

Great personal in-depth reporting!

A must-listen if you’re even remotely interested in birds. Highly recommended!

This is great...listen! More episodes please!

I play them and replay them when I need peace and for my anxiety to come down. Also when I am working long hours writing emails. I get lost like in a good book but in this case in an enchanted place by just listening. I live in the country side in Vermont Rand I am sorprendes by beautiful sounds but I look forward listening to this podcast! How long is your break?

How much do I look forward to these soundscapes? I savor them. I replay them. I am so very thankful for each one. Actually, they kind of leave me speechless here because they involve my mind so thoroughly in the deepest way-sort of beyond words. All I can say is RUN, DON’T WALK to listen to each and every single episode. It is a gift to your soul.

Love this podcast nothing like it! Just get swept away into the delicious world of sound so lusciously scrumptious that by the time Gordon Hampton speaks again it is terrifying. Wish he’d get all the speaking done at the beginning, not like he has a scary voice but it’s just not necessary.

This is so peaceful and relaxing. I find now especially when I can’t go out in nature. I also listen when I’m stressed or can’t sleep.

These recordings and episodes are gifts to the ears, brain, and heart. Thank you for making them.

Your recordings are treasures.

I loved the sound escapes with Gordon Hempton. I really hope you do more. I also loved the interview with Dr. J. Drew Lanham. Such good stuff!

This is one of the most beautiful podcasts I’ve ever heard. Such lush, gorgeous sounds!! I truly hope there will be more episodes.

Grateful for this podcast in every sense.

Really enjoyed this calming podcast. Have visited the Big Isjand and the sounds bring back memories of a great time

PLEASE make more of these.

Composed natural wildlife sounds. Gorgeous!

At 20:04 sounds like a black panther/ or some big Cat yawning? The splashes are super hyperventilating and can feel myself in the canoe and just one slip and your over board, and I’m sure those are not small alligators definitely will try too put this on my bucket list. Awesome recordings. Thanks Mr. Gordon Hempton

The recordings are amazing— perfect for relaxing or listening while you fall asleep. The only thing I dislike is that the woman who introduces and closes the recordings has a really harsh, loud voice—like a sportscaster. You can skip over her at the start, but then she comes back at the end.

The sounds of nature have had healing qualities for me since childhood. When I need to relax and feel calm and safe I go into nature. In our busy world, however, it has become much more difficult to find any place where the sounds of nature are unmolested by those of modern life. This podcast gives that experience better than anything I’ve ever discovered. My deepest gratitude to Gordon and to everyone who made this podcast possible. I hope you’ll make more episodes.

Thank you for making these available.

I listen to these episodes over and over again when I am meditating or I can’t get to sleep. Sounds are relaxing and the audio mix sound quality is excellent!

This podcast is like listening to the most beautiful concert of nature. So calming, I have listened to them over and over again. What a creative idea for a podcast. ALso, thank you for the bird id on the website, that adds a wonderful educational element. All I can say is, More please!

Heard the interview with Gordon on the 20k Hertz podcast and this lustrous series is everything Birdnote producer Ashley Ahern said it would be. I also went to Gordon's soundtracker.com website where I found his American Prarie file available for purchase. What a pleasure to support this artist's life work. It's wonderful to learn he's mentoring new artists. Thank you, Gordon.

As an audio engineer/sound designer by trade and a nature enthusiast on the weekends, this podcast is the best of both worlds. Thank you Ashley for hosting this series. Thank you Gordon for your dedication and hard work. These field recordings and mixes are spectacular! Discovered this serious via 20k Hz podcast, but I’m also a BirdNote listener.

This is such a rich and beautiful program. It completely merges your ears with the most beautiful sounds in the world! I’m captivated and you will be too!! Thank you for this wonderful gift, Gordon!

Listening to this podcast feels like twirling through a daydream!