Nestucca Bay is about 10 miles north up the Oregon Coast from our last destination, Cascade Head. The Nestucca Bay NWR is a mosaic of pastures, woodlands, coastal prairie, tidal marsh and mudflats around the bay. For this soundwalk we are confined to the peninsula, which juts into the sheltered bay. The trail winds through coastal prairie, small wildflower meadows, and a mixed-alder forest, affording a view of the confluence of the Nestucca and Little Nestucca Rivers at the terminus.
The Pacific Ocean surf is barely registered in the soundscape, given the distance to the ocean and the buffer of the north spit. It’s a quiet, peaceful spot to be sure. I can’t wait to get back there.
On our soundwalk we’ll hear chestnut backed chickadees, Bushtits, Brown Creeper, ravens, geese, Bald Eagle, gulls, and more. This was recorded in mid February, so the Spring and Fall during migration is a whole other ballgame. There’s a section of a raven’s soft sub song (an unstructured vocalization at low volume) which I really like around the 17 minute mark, or track 12 in the streaming version. I tried to let the music breathe around it.
As far as the music goes, I’m experimenting a little more with these warm, warmly synth sounds. There’s also plenty of piano—I can’t seem to shake it—and electric guitar, harp, woodwinds, and that clunky dulcitone.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed capturing it and responding to it in music here. Without further ado, here is Nestucca Bay.
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