Eucalyptus prava (Mountain Orange Gum)

This curated soundscape was created by Will Rodgers at Garth Lane, Thorndale, Queensland, Australia – November 2022. It’s created from a series of recordings at the base of a venerable Mountain Orange Gum in the late spring (November) of 2022 at his property in Thorndale, Queensland. They were recorded using an XYH-6 microphone capsule on a Zoom H6 recorder. This venerable old tree grows on a south facing slope of open dry sclerophyll woodland amongst granite boulders and accompanying Callitris Pine/Red Stringybark mosaic. This Sanctuary Tree is a host and supporter of a diverse range of bird and insect species and grows next to a perched dam home to several species of frogs. The recordings were made late in the afternoon as a thunderstorm approached and record the bird, insect and amphibian response to the storm breaking. SEE ADDITIONAL NOTES BELOW

Images: Will Rodgers

Eucalyptus prava, commonly known as Mountain Orange Gum, is a species of small to medium-sized eucalypt endemic to a small area of eastern Australia. It has smooth, mottled grey green bark that sheds to a brilliant orange that fades to silver as it ages. It has blunt lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers in January and cup-shaped or hemispherical fruit. Mountain Orange gum grows in woodland, usually in poor granitic or sandstone soils. It is found mainly west of the Great Dividing Range, north from Moonbi in New South Wales to the Granite Belt in Queensland in Queensland – with occasional outliers east of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales.

Atlas of Living Australia

Additional recording information

This is a list of species, elements and anthropogenic sounds positively identified that contribute their voices to this piece.

Birds:
Scarlet Myzomela (Myzomela sanguinolenta)
Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus)
Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)
Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis)
Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis)
White Browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis)
Grey Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla harmonica)
Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla)
White Throated Treecreeper (Cormobates leucophaeus)
Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)
Torresian Crow (Corvus orru)
Crimson Rosella (Platycerus elegans)
Superb Fairy Wren (Maluris cyaneus)
Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris)
White Throated Gerygone (Gerygone olivacea)
Noisy Friarbird (Philemon corniculatus)
Channel Bill Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandae)

Amphibians:
Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera)
Eastern Sign-bearing Froglet (Crinia parinsignifera)
Peron’s Tree Frog (Litoria peronii)
Slender Bleating Tree Frog (Litoria balatus)
Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog (Litoria fallax)
Smooth Toadlet (Uperoleia laevigata)

Insects:
Fly (Musca spp.)
Cricket (Teleogryllus commodus)
Redeye Cicada (Psaltoda moerens)

Elements:
Thunder
Rain on dam surface
Wind in eucalypts

Human Generated:
Highway noise
Agricultural machinery
Aeroplane

Will Rodgers online