As a soundscape ecologist, I study natural sounds produced in the landscape. And for the past 50 years, I've focused on the collective organic sound - or the biophony - that's generated in any wild habitat. After nearly five decades of working in the field and recording almost everywhere, I'm often asked to reveal my favorite place. 'Alaska, by far' I reply, because it's truly wild .
In late spring and summer, Alaskan habitats everywhere are pulsating with the sounds of wildlife.
(Sounds of the Yukon Delta)
Just inland from the west coast of the state, the tundra of the Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge is the nesting and breeding site for millions of marine and inland birds that converge from as far away as New Zealand and even Africa.
(Tundra sounds)