Customer Reviews

Guide to Night Sounds, A: The Nighttime Sounds of 60 Mammals, Birds, Amphibians, and Insects (The Lang Elliott Audio Library)

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This is a truly special release from Lang Elliott, the author of numerous nature CDs and books (including the splendid "Music of the Birds" and "Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.") On this compact disc (or cassette) and its accompanying booklet, he introduces the sounds of common North American night animals. To my knowledge, no one else has compiled a field guide to the sounds of night animals with sounds from many groups of creatures all in one place (i.e., birds, mammals, amphibians, etc.)

The recording is a constant delight and will probably make you aware of the source of many sounds you have heard but not identified before. Don't be surprised to say, "So THAT'S what that is" many times while listening to the tape or CD. Also be prepared for surprises. Think you hear cats fighting outside your window at night? They may be cats, but they also could be raccoons, which often sound remarkably like angry felines. That strange, ghostly hiss or scream you may have heard at night in the country? An angry cat perhaps, but it might be a barn owl. And there are many other special sounds identified here: the rhythmic calls of nightjars like the whippoorwill, the trills and croaks of amphibians, the surprisingly snort of the white-tailed deer.

If you spend a lot of time outdoors, you must have this guide. Take it on a camping trip with you, if you have a portable CD player or cassette player. Those night woods will not seem so forbidding anymore once you know that most of the time, the strange and fascinating sounds you hear are made by completely harmless creatures.

It's nice to listen to in the car (for a while, at least). It's pretty useless, though, since the geographical area is not limited enough. There might be a couple of those 60 animals in your area, but about 50 of 'em won't be. This should be a series of CD's: one for the northeast, one for the southwest....and so on.

If you live in the woods or country and are curious about what goes bump in the night, this book and CD will explain those noises. We kept hearing a wonderful creature but had no way to identify it. Turns out it was a screech owl (they don't hoot nor do they screech). This book has also helped identify several frogs & night birds. As a bonus, Lang has a very pleasant voice and the CD is well made.

I love Lang Elliott's voice. It is very soothing and doesn't detract from the bird, reptile and insect sounds. I was able to identify a Horned Owl from the CD, so it is informative, too. The sounds are grouped on different tracks so it's easy to find the category you want, much better than a cassette tape.

Night has always fascinated, and sometimes terrified, me. Blacklighting for moths alone in the Davis Mountains I heard in the distance the lonely calls of a group of coyotes - a sound that both thrilled me and made me uneasy. The sounds of a poorwill echoing through the canyons of Baja California's Sierra de la Giganta and whiskered screech owls near Geronimo Pass in the Peloncillo Mountains of Arizona-New Mexico gave the night a character that I will never forget.

My daughter gave me a copy of "A Guide to Night Sounds" for Fathers Day and I must say that it was great to hear some of the creatures I have heard on well-remembered nights and some that I have never heard, but hope to some day. Lang Elliot is a good narrator and does a great job of explaining the various sounds and behaviors associated with them.

My only complaint (and it is one that I'm sure many have) is that this just gives the listener a sampling of the huge variety of sounds one hears in the night. Around my house I hear night songs, not only from the mockingbird (which Elliott mentions along with the actual recording of a catbird), but also its close relative the curved-billed thrasher, which he implies has no night song. In recent times their night time chorus has been joined by the hoot of the great horned owl and in the close distance the wok of the black-crowned night heron. In rain storms both spadefoot and Bufo toads make considerable noise from the nearby fields. The list could go on and on, including broad-winged and cone-headed katydids, the barking of grey foxes and the chittering (just audible to some younger folk) of bats. I suppose that it would be hard to include everything and this CD contains a great sampling that leaves you with the wish for more. As in all of these works there seems to be a bias toward the eastern United States, but again this is where most of the people who work with animal sounds live, so I can't be too critical, I can only say that one day I hope a similar recording and book will emerge for mostly western creatures of the night.

I recommend this for those who would like to get at least a taste of the real night in nature.

A succinct but fun review of common night sounds. Excellent audio, and the narration is just enough to keep the entries from being too "rapid fire" and boring. I imagine children would also find the CD engaging to listen to in the car. If you have purchased other Lang Elliott audio compilations and found them too "disjointed" (ie-just a name and sound), this is the better alternative due to slightly more narration that lends the feel of a true "tour". The selections are for very common animals that are not esoteric or regional, so inevitably you will end up smiling and muse, "So, THAT is what I heard on my walk last week!" I do not know Lang personally, but the CD emits the vibe of a well crafted labor of love and appreciation for nature.

This book and CD are very helpful as I listen to all the night sounds around my cabin in the woods.

I bought a book that comes with a CD: the CD is defective. It can no be played. I have written two letters asking what should I do. I want the product, but a need a CD that is not defective. No answer from Amazon.
I am very dissapointed. I am not buying another product until this matter is solved.