High Sierra Topix

The beeping was an electronic sound. It wasn't that of the Saw-whet owl, which is sonorous. Also, the owl's habitat is in deep
forest, not in the desert, where I heard the sound.

There is a possibility that you were hearing bat echolocation sounds. Mostly these are outside the range of human hearing, but I have read that there is some overlap, so that if you have particularly acute hearing at the upper range, and this particular bat is operating at their lower range, you could possibly hear their echolocation sounds.

SweetSierra wrote: ↑Wed Jul 12, 2023 3:53 am The beeping was an electronic sound. It wasn't that of the Saw-whet owl, which is sonorous. Also, the owl's habitat is in deep
forest, not in the desert, where I heard the sound.

Sparky's post mentioned that the beeping sound buzzed their tents so that is what made me think it was a type of bird or bat. Your posts don't mention if the sound came from the air or the ground.

If the beeping sound doesn't match the sound that the Northern Saw-whet Owl makes, what about the howl of the Grasshopper Mouse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izizsAodOCk. It is found in desert settings and is on the list of mammals found in Joshua Tree National Park https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/mammals.htm

I did some poking around about the Northern Saw-whet Owl.https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Nor ... hern%20U.S. says that

"Northern Saw-whet Owls are forest birds. They breed in extensive forests across northern North America, also sometimes using more open habitats such as the shrubsteppe of the West as long as there are nest sites available. They winter in dense forests across the central and southern U.S."

The shrubsteppe being most of what we would consider to be desert in Arizona.

The Northern Saw-whet Owls is listed as a bird species found in Joshua Tree National Park https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/birds.htm. It does list it's status as "migrant". So, it most likely found there in the summer and goes back to forest areas in the winter to breed. I couldn't find anything official about whether the Northern Saw-whet Owls are found in the Superstition Mountains but I did find an AZFO article (http://www.azfo.net/events/custom/Super ... s2016.html) where they said "The Superstition Mountains, in Tonto National Forest, contain some of the highest elevations in Maricopa County. This rugged and beautiful range harbors isolated habitats that may yield some interesting discoveries in relation to rare and local breeding birds in the county. In particular, patches of pine-oak forest in canyons and on north-facing slopes may host Northern Pygmy Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Spotted owl..."

I also found this webpage about finding a Northern Saw-whet Owl in the Phoenix area. https://foundnature.weebly.com/blog/nor ... w-whet-owl

Hey cOryh,

Back to your weird "exhaling" sounds, I found some audio-video with some of their sounds. Was it anything like that? The recording here makes them sound quieter than we have heard them. Sometimes in a canyon their "drumming" can be very loud, and I imagine that competing male Grouse could've been sounding off from both sides of your camp. You've started a cool post-- Thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nNIZXciiFE


btw, rlown, how does one capture just a single segment when copying something from Youtube, without adding in all of the extraneous BS? Thanks Russ.

At the bottom of the screen of the video, and select the scissors (located right before the comments section.) A new window will appear. you can then select the part of the video you to cut out..

Finally...I now know what makes that sound I heard! Maybe not the "sighing" that first started this thread but still a creepy or mystery sound. Not ducks, but a Nighthawk...
Make sure you click the sound icon on far right to "ON" (unmuted) and then wait for the 12 seconds mark on the video:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?extid=C ... 4451534224


M.

"No point mentioning those bats, I thought. The poor bastard will see them soon enough."

Hunter S Thompson - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Ed

All,

Thank you for the great responses. I apologize it's taken me so long to respond. I methodically went through each of your posts and listened to samples of the animals you suggested and can confirm that none of them match the sounds we heard.

I do have an update! We went back to the lake this weekend to fish and heard the same sounds throughout the night. I've only been to the lake twice and have heard the sounds every night so it seems to be a regular occurrence. This leads me to believe it's not a bear or deer.

I did capture the sound on my phone and uploaded a copy to Youtube. The sounds we were hearing were coming from around the lake (anywhere from 1/4 mile - 1 mile away). Due to this, the sound that was recorded is very faint but is being projected loud from the animal.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I9y09JTHi8A - You have to turn your speakers all the way up. It occurs around the 3 second mark.

Let me know what you think. Not being able to identify the noise is driving me insane, I may reach out to a Ranger Station for their opinion.

I increased the audio and posted a second sample. Friends are leaning towards a bear but at one point, I was hearing this sound from four different locations around the lake. I find it hard to believe it's a bear but I could be wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o57PaY7ZGc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dYEv2F5wLA

It's a common Nighthawk. I can die in peace now.