February 7, 2010 - Winter Sounds

Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

Have you ever listened to sounds in winter? They are different than in any other season. Sounds in winter have their own unique quality that can change during the season. When the trees are bare and the ground is frozen hard, sound travels through the air loudly and crisply. A black-capped chickadee calling from the distance sounds as though it is only a few feet away. The staccato call of a downy woodpecker punctuates the air. Sounds are much clearer because the frozen ground reflects sound by allowing it to carry farther. Winter sounds change once snow arrives. Deep snows absorb higher frequencies in the range of human hearing, causing a muffling effect. That’s why there seems to be a profound hush after a snowfall.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.