I had a similar sound in the master bath of our home in Ohio. I was sure it was water dripping. I called the builder (new home) and he came out to help me isolate the sound. Turned out, when the furnace came on, the metal heating ducts were expanding. The HVAC guys hung the ducts too tight on the beams in the basement and the dripping/ticking was the metal binding on the beams. Go figure.
