Spring sounds are music to our ears!
The sounds made by hundreds of migrating Canada geese and ducks is unmistakable in early spring.
In the spring upper Myrtle Falls fills with snowpack melt and melting icicles, its waters steadily gather momentum. The sounds it makes along the way change from watershed trickles to surging roars at the bottom of Myrtle Falls. Photo by DON BARTLING
Spring has finally arrived, bringing the sweet sound of music to our ears. One of the most apparent sounds of spring are birds singing. You know warm weather has arrived when the sun forces you to take off that winter coat, but also because you hear birds chirping and singing in the morning. Fresh off their winter naps, birds’ singing their melodies is one of the delightful sounds that usher in spring.
While we all love a cloudless sunny day, there’s something so relaxing about hearing rain patter off your rooftop and to smell the fresh air of the new season through your open window.
Frogs croaking by ponds and dripping icicles are some sounds of spring. The buzzing of insects is sometimes an unpleasant noise to hear but definitely the sound of the season and awakens us to reaching for the bug spray.
Melting ice can emit a surprising variety of sounds. From the steady drip of sun-warmed icicles to the groans and cracks of thawing lakes, ice sounds are interesting! Nestled in dense forests and farm ground is a checkerboard of waterways that includes streams, ponds, rivers, and small lakes. As layers of ice melt and shift with spring thaws, these water bodies awoke from their winter state with new sounds of life.
The base of a waterfall is one place where the power of nature can be heard and also felt. Come late spring, its reputation, like its waters, significantly swells. As upper Myrtle Falls fills with snowpack melt, and melting icicles, the waters steadily gather momentum. The sounds it makes along the way change from watershed trickles to surging roars at the bottom of Myrtle Falls as well as the numerous falls in Boundary County.
It has been said that spring begins with sound. Part of this winter has felt like spring, but plants and animals know the deeper signals, and somehow find their own timing. In the meantime, even without the snow, winters are quiet. Perhaps it is the wind that initiates auditory vibrations that become spring’s wake-up call.
Ice on lakes and streams contracts and expands as temperatures change. The reverberating voices of melting ice fill the air with moans and groans, cracks and pops, and booms and tinkles. I especially recall a special concert of such sounds coming from Deep Creek as it flowed into the Kootenai River.
Spring brings warmer weather. The weather melts any snow and ice left from winter. The melted water trickles through streams and rivers and into lakes and oceans. Trickling water is an important part of life for animals and plants. In the next few weeks we will experience the Kootenai River Valley and Boundary County come alive with the sights and sounds of spring.
Enjoy Boundary County and all its beauty.