Andy Martin
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:51:03 -0700
Andrew,I personally like the spring recording better. The subdivision where I live is quieter on spring nights and I get better recordings. In the fall I have to contend with insects and neighbors A/C units plus there's a food warehouse about a mile from my house who's refrigeration compressor really thrums loudly on nights with wind out of north direction.
I also feel (but not scientifically proven) that the progression of spring migration from an nfc standpoint is more orderly and predictable. If winds cooperate, I start recording in late Feb/early Mar. Song Sparrows seem to be some of 1st birds I record. Keep hoping I will record a definitive Fox Sparrow call but it has not happened yet. Last year, I picked up a Song Sparrow flight call on Feb 26. But it was only flight call I got that night in almost 8 hrs of recording. I reported to nfc-l a few days ago that I had 3 Song Sparrow calls in wee hrs of March 10. My March recordings since 2006 seem to be mostly made up of calls from Song Sparrows, Killdeer, American Robin, Ring-billed Gull, Tundra Swan and Canada Goose, an occasional snipe and American Woodcock, and towards end of month, American Bittern.
Good question about what happened to sparrows and other birds this winter. I really enjoy driving roads a few days after snowstorms to look for birds driven to plowed road shoulders. After the big December snow here in Wash, DC area, road sides were full of birds. Driving the roads in February 4/5 days after back to back 15"+ storms, road sides birds were extremely scarce. If the weather had been more cooperative, I should have put my recording gear out to see I could get some flight calls of birds unexpectedly having to move further south for a second time this winter. Hope they are programmed to be flexible enough to do that and did not just die. White-throated Sparrows still seem very scare around my county.
Next batch of south winds looks like it will be this Saturday. Keeping my fingers crossed that they will be light and it will be a dry night.
Good recording, Andy Martin Gaithersburg, MD On 3/13/2010 11:35 PM, Andrew Albright wrote:
1. It's not a nfc, but everyone who guessed at my quiz, said I should post here: http://trash-birder.blogspot.com/2010/03/mystery-sonogram-1.html. Cliff notes: Try and guess the bird from the sonogram first and if you can't do that, guess from the sound file linked below it. 2. Spring migration on the east coast. Is there less interest in spring nfc than fall nfc on the east coast? It seems that there are probably fewer birds; however, the night air in March and April should be much "cleaner" without all the insect noise. Are there any other interesting differences between spring and fall nfc? 3. When do the sparrows start migrating in the spring? With the winter that we've had, it's hard to tell if the birds from Jan and early Feb died, decided to move further south, or have already departed to the north. Andrew Albright Lafayette Hill, PA -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
-- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --