明池森林的清晨 Dawn of Mingchi forest

這是2022年8月14日的凌晨於宜蘭明池的錄音

This is a recording from the early morning of August 14, 2022, at Mingchi in Yilan.

明池的海拔大約1000公尺多，夏季時是人們避暑的去處，因此並不容易找到安靜的錄音地點，所以只能選擇大多數人在休息的夜間，否則依照自己前幾次的經驗，錄完回家後發現大多數的錄音都有人為的噪音。

凌晨2:50被設好的鬧鐘震動叫醒，約03:15出發尋找錄音點，走著走著聽到一隻鳥在半夜裡叫，顧不得地點並不理想便架起錄音器材，剛開始錄鳥叫聲沒幾秒後忽然聽到山羌的叫聲，而且距離不遠，山羌總共叫了將近3分鐘，以音量來看應該是慢慢遠離。

Mingchi is situated at an altitude of just over 1,000 meters and serves as a popular summer retreat for people looking to escape the heat. Because of this, it’s not easy to find a quiet spot for recording. The only feasible option is during the night when most people are resting. Based on my previous experiences, recordings made during the day often end up contaminated with human-made noise.

At 2:50 a.m., I was woken by a vibrating alarm I had set. Around 3:15 a.m., I set out to find a recording location. While walking, I heard a bird calling in the middle of the night. Although the location wasn’t ideal, I quickly set up my recording equipment. Just a few seconds after capturing the bird’s call, I suddenly heard the bark of a Formosan muntjac (Reeves's muntjac), and it seemed quite close. The muntjac called for nearly three minutes, and judging by the decreasing volume, it was gradually moving away.

錄完山羌，繼續往上處走，雖然有開頭燈，但天氣實在太黑，視野只能勉強看到前方1公尺，先試錄了10分鐘覺得應該沒問題後就開著錄，然後就走回到步道入口處看看星空。   

5:10-5:20開始天色漸亮，起先是一隻白耳畫眉開始叫，不久後就是dawn chorus，第一次錄到/現場聽的經驗還滿奇妙的。

After recording the muntjac, I continued heading uphill. Although I had my headlamp on, it was so dark that I could barely see a meter ahead. I did a 10-minute test recording to make sure everything was working properly, then left the recorder running and walked back down to the trailhead to look at the stars.

Between 5:10 and 5:20, the sky gradually began to brighten. It started with a single White-eared Sibia calling, and soon after, the dawn chorus began. It was a fascinating experience to hear—and record—it for the first time in person.

從錄音中可以發現這段dawn chorus多數是白耳畫眉，其中有一隻鳥的叫聲婉轉優美，可惜我無法辨認，遠處可以聽到蛙及山羌。錄音的7:30處可以聽到暮蟬開始叫，跟我在陽明山上聽到的聲音應是同一種。

大約6:30就把設備回收，這次的錄音算是有吸取之前的經驗，在人類活動時間以外的時段才能錄到無干擾的自然聲音，只是明池還是有飛機不時的噪音，整晚錄音中連續無干擾的片段其實不到20分鐘。

From the recording, it's clear that the majority of the dawn chorus was made up of calls from the White-eared Sibia. Among them, there was one bird with a particularly melodious and graceful song, though unfortunately I couldn’t identify it. In the distance, you can also hear frogs and a muntjac. At around 7:30 in the recording, the evening cicadas begin to call—it sounds like the same species I’ve heard before on Yangmingshan.

Around 6:30, I retrieved the equipment. This recording session reflected lessons learned from previous experiences: only during hours outside of human activity can one capture undisturbed natural sounds. However, even in Mingchi, there was occasional noise from airplanes. In the entire recording session, the total duration of uninterrupted natural sound was actually less than 20 minutes.