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Rising once again at 4am, I rushed off to meet with my friend Melissa Groo, a talented wildlife photographer. We drove down into Shindagin Hollow then up again to a beautiful wet meadow at the edge of the forest, arriving art first light, just as the birds were beginning to sing …
I rose at 4 am this morning and drove to a remote location in the hills above Shindagin Hollow. Upon arriving, I set my soundscape microphone in the forest next to the road. Water trickled softly down a nearby drainage ditch. Otherwise it was completely quiet. Then the birds began to sing …
My favorite wren is without doubt the Winter Wren. It’s rambling, silvery song delights the ear and is quite unlike the song of any other wren. Yesterday, when I recorded the Wood Thrush in Shindagin Hollow with Beth Bannister, we reminisced about our experience ten years prior recording a Winter Wren, also in early May and almost at the same location …
Yesterday I rose early to hear the fluting of a Wood Thrush, but didn’t hear a peep. This morning, as if by magic, the songs of thrushes rained down upon the forest floor, glittering like stardust sprinkled upon the greening landscape. How enchanting and reassuring … the Wood Thrushes have once again returned!
This morning was cloudy but calm, so I went to nearby Shindagin Hollow to see if there were any new arrivals (or local species) sounding off … and sure enough there were: Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Winter Wren, Ovenbird, Blue Jay … and more!
This morning, I rose at 4:30am and headed for Finger Lakes National Forest, arriving at about 5:15am. Birds were already singing and soon I stumbled upon something special: a migrating flock of White-throated Sparrows, awakening to the day in a thicket at the edge of the woods …
Just as I was ending my field work on Sunday morning, a Brown Thrasher began singing from a patch of shrubs next to the road. I spent the next twenty minutes chasing after him as he flew from perch to perch. Finally, he settled in a tall hickory tree and put on quite a vocal performance …
Several days ago, I paid a morning visit to my friend and fellow recordist Bob McGuire (we’ve done a number of trips together). Bob’s yard is full of House Finches and Common Grackles, attracted to the abundant evergreens surrounding his home. Luckily, it was a blue-sky day, so I managed to get some usable video footage of both species, with pretty decent sound …
Nearly every day yields something valuable, but only if I get myself out there and immerse myself in the glory of the wilds. I never know what I’m going to find, even when I have a goal in mind. And more often than not, my ultimate “catch” is not at all what I had expected …
This morning’s video catch: A Red-bellied Woodpecker giving its vibrant querrr calls, along with tapping at a potential nest site. I was very lucky to get this footage, after a frustrating morning trying to locate a Ruffed Grouse drumming log, with no success …
O frabjous day! The Brown Thrashers have arrived, nearly ten days earlier than last year. What a joyful surprise on this calm and sunny morning in upstate New York. A truly welcome sign that spring is blossoming according to plan, and that Old Man Winter has lost his grip and is quickly fading away …
Spring came and then left, or so it seemed. Last weekend the temperatures dropped into the high teens and on Saturday we had snow flurries all morning. Thinking it might be our last snowfall of the season, I braved the cold and attempted to get some video footage of birds at the nearby Cornell Plantations Arboretum … I’m surprised at how fruitful my adventure was!
In searching through my collection, I uncovered this pleasing dawn chorus that I recorded at Land Between the Lakes , Kentucky, way back in 1995. It is a fairly busy chorus, featuring two Wood Thrushes singing back-and-forth. In the background, one can hear a Whip-poor-will, along with a din of bird song (a Cardinal being fairly prominent). Filling-in the low end are distant Barred Owls and a lone Mourning Dove …
Winter has returned in spades! There’s perhaps five inches of snow on the ground and last night the temperature dropped to 10F. It feels like mid-January, and it’s hard to believe that it was in the high 60s no more than a week ago. So I spent the morning in my studio, huddled in front of my computer, editing bird videos I gathered during warmer weather the week before …
Bluebirds are at it again, courting in preparation for their nesting season. I’ve been hearing them sing for about two weeks, so I went this morning, hoping to videotape one in full song. I was not successful, but I did manage to capture something very special… mating feedingbehavior!
