Re: [nfc-l] Unknown over Pittsburgh, May 2

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, Geoff & everybody.

How about Sora? Duration and intonation seem spot-on for me. It's got the
two (and, in the second vocalization, three?) bands, too. It doesn't really
cry out like a Sora, but maybe the bird is pretty far away?

Just a guess, really. I could be totally off.

Thanks for sharing.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA



===

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine
Managing Editor, *North American Birds*

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 7:55 PM, Geoff Malosh <pomar...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
>
>
> Found the attached in my recordings from last night, right about exactly
> at 3am. Closest thing I can come up with is Marbled Godwit, but it doesn’t
> seem a perfect match. As usual, I might be missing something considerably
> more obvious/common here. Any thoughts are appreciated, as always
>
>
>
> Thanks, and good listening,
>
> Geoff
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Geoff Malosh
>
> Allegheny County
>
> www.flickr.com/photos/geoffmalosh/
>
>
> --
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Re: [nfc-l] Unknown over Pittsburgh, May 2

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, Geoff & everybody.

How about Sora? Duration and intonation seem spot-on for me. It's got the
two (and, in the second vocalization, three?) bands, too. It doesn't really
cry out like a Sora, but maybe the bird is pretty far away?

Just a guess, really. I could be totally off.

Thanks for sharing.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA



===

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine
Managing Editor, *North American Birds*

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 7:55 PM, Geoff Malosh  wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
>
>
> Found the attached in my recordings from last night, right about exactly
> at 3am. Closest thing I can come up with is Marbled Godwit, but it doesn’t
> seem a perfect match. As usual, I might be missing something considerably
> more obvious/common here. Any thoughts are appreciated, as always
>
>
>
> Thanks, and good listening,
>
> Geoff
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Geoff Malosh
>
> Allegheny County
>
> www.flickr.com/photos/geoffmalosh/
>
>
> --
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Re: [nfc-l] How do we know NFCs?

[Ted Floyd]

Thanks, Dave!

Best, --TF

===

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine
Managing Editor, *North American Birds*

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 12:34 PM, David Irons <llsdir...@msn.com> wrote:

> Ted,
>
> I forwarded this directly to Jay.
>
> Dave Irons
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 31, 2018, at 6:21 AM, Ted Floyd <tfl...@aba.org> wrote:
>
> Jay Withgott?
>
> You out there?
>
> Could you post a PDF of your fine article in *Birding*, gasp, 16 years
> ago? (Feels like yesterday.)
>
> Best, --TF
>
>
>
> ===
>
> Ted Floyd
> Editor, *Birding* magazine
> Managing Editor, *North American Birds*
>
> Website: http://aba.org/birding
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
> <https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
> The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/
>
> On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 12:50 AM, Wim van Dam <wim.van@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> So as I'm starting to learn about NFCs the obvious question came to
>> me: how do we know what we currently know?
>>
>> Do we typically infer ID features from daytime flight calls where we
>> can visually verify our IDs? Or are night calls too different from
>> daytime ones, meaning that we have/had to find other ways of matching
>> calls with birds (netting, night time visual observations, etc)?
>>
>> Imagine somebody trying to get into NFCs in an unexplored part of the
>> world. How does such a person start?
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Wim van Dam
>> Solvang, CA (USA)
>>
>> --
>> NFC-L List Info:
>>
>> Welcome and Basics – http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME
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>> m/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
>>
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>> c...@cornell.edu/maillist.html
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>> Birding.ABA.Org – http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NFC
>>
>> Please submit your observations to eBird! – http://ebird.org/content/ebi
>> rd/
>> --
>>
>
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Re: [nfc-l] How do we know NFCs?

[Ted Floyd]

Thanks, Dave!

Best, --TF

===

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine
Managing Editor, *North American Birds*

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 12:34 PM, David Irons  wrote:

> Ted,
>
> I forwarded this directly to Jay.
>
> Dave Irons
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 31, 2018, at 6:21 AM, Ted Floyd  wrote:
>
> Jay Withgott?
>
> You out there?
>
> Could you post a PDF of your fine article in *Birding*, gasp, 16 years
> ago? (Feels like yesterday.)
>
> Best, --TF
>
>
>
> ===
>
> Ted Floyd
> Editor, *Birding* magazine
> Managing Editor, *North American Birds*
>
> Website: http://aba.org/birding
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
> <https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
> The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/
>
> On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 12:50 AM, Wim van Dam 
> wrote:
>
>> So as I'm starting to learn about NFCs the obvious question came to
>> me: how do we know what we currently know?
>>
>> Do we typically infer ID features from daytime flight calls where we
>> can visually verify our IDs? Or are night calls too different from
>> daytime ones, meaning that we have/had to find other ways of matching
>> calls with birds (netting, night time visual observations, etc)?
>>
>> Imagine somebody trying to get into NFCs in an unexplored part of the
>> world. How does such a person start?
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Wim van Dam
>> Solvang, CA (USA)
>>
>> --
>> NFC-L List Info:
>>
>> Welcome and Basics – http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME
>> Rules and Information – http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES
>> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave – http://www.northeastbirding.co
>> m/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
>>
>> Archives:
>> The Mail Archive – http://www.mail-archive.com/nf
>> c...@cornell.edu/maillist.html
>> Surfbirds – http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L
>> Birding.ABA.Org – http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NFC
>>
>> Please submit your observations to eBird! – http://ebird.org/content/ebi
>> rd/
>> --
>>
>
> --
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>
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Re: [nfc-l] How do we know NFCs?

[Ted Floyd]

"Night Voices Revealed: A New Guide to Flight Calls Sheds Light on
Nocturnal Migration," *Birding*, December 2002, pp. 546-553, by Jay
Withgott.

To anticipate your next question... :-)
Sorry, but this is from before the era that we were posting PDFs online.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, eastern Boulder County, Colorado, USA

=======

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine
Managing Editor, *North American Birds*

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 11:47 AM, Wim van Dam  wrote:

> Ted: what is the reference of the article you are referring to?
>
> In the meantime I found this article, which addresses the question to
> some extend:
>
> "FLIGHT CALLS AND THEIR VALUE FOR FUTURE ORNITHOLOGICAL STUDIES AND
> CONSERVATION RESEARCH", Andrew Farnsworth, The Auk 122(3):733-746.
> 2005
>
> https://doi.org/10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0733:FCATVF]2.0.CO;2
>
>
> Thanks
> Wim van Dam
> Solvang, CA, USA
>
> On Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 6:21 AM, Ted Floyd  wrote:
> > Jay Withgott?
> >
> > You out there?
> >
> > Could you post a PDF of your fine article in Birding, gasp, 16 years ago?
> > (Feels like yesterday.)
> >
> > Best, --TF
> >
> >
> >
> > ===
> >
> > Ted Floyd
> > Editor, Birding magazine
> > Managing Editor, North American Birds
> >
> > Website: http://aba.org/birding
> > Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
> > The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/
> >
> > On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 12:50 AM, Wim van Dam 
> wrote:
> >>
> >> So as I'm starting to learn about NFCs the obvious question came to
> >> me: how do we know what we currently know?
> >>
> >> Do we typically infer ID features from daytime flight calls where we
> >> can visually verify our IDs? Or are night calls too different from
> >> daytime ones, meaning that we have/had to find other ways of matching
> >> calls with birds (netting, night time visual observations, etc)?
> >>
> >> Imagine somebody trying to get into NFCs in an unexplored part of the
> >> world. How does such a person start?
> >>
> >> Thanks.
> >>
> >> Wim van Dam
> >> Solvang, CA (USA)
> >>
> >> --
> >> NFC-L List Info:
> >>
> >> Welcome and Basics – http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME
> >> Rules and Information – http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES
> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave –
> >> http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
> >>
> >> Archives:
> >> The Mail Archive –
> >> http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
> >> Surfbirds – http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L
> >> Birding.ABA.Org – http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NFC
> >>
> >> Please submit your observations to eBird! –
> >> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/
> >> --
> >
> >
> > --
> > NFC-L List Info:
> > Welcome and Basics
> > Rules and Information
> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
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> > The Mail Archive
> > Surfbirds
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>
> --
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> html
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> Birding.ABA.Org – http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NFC
>
> Please submit your observations to eBird! � http://ebird.org/content/
> ebird/
> --
>
>

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Re: [nfc-l] How do we know NFCs?

[Ted Floyd]

Jay Withgott?

You out there?

Could you post a PDF of your fine article in *Birding*, gasp, 16 years ago?
(Feels like yesterday.)

Best, --TF



===

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine
Managing Editor, *North American Birds*

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 12:50 AM, Wim van Dam <wim.van@gmail.com> wrote:

> So as I'm starting to learn about NFCs the obvious question came to
> me: how do we know what we currently know?
>
> Do we typically infer ID features from daytime flight calls where we
> can visually verify our IDs? Or are night calls too different from
> daytime ones, meaning that we have/had to find other ways of matching
> calls with birds (netting, night time visual observations, etc)?
>
> Imagine somebody trying to get into NFCs in an unexplored part of the
> world. How does such a person start?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Wim van Dam
> Solvang, CA (USA)
>
> --
> NFC-L List Info:
>
> Welcome and Basics – http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME
> Rules and Information – http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES
> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave – http://www.northeastbirding.
> com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
>
> Archives:
> The Mail Archive – http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.
> html
> Surfbirds – http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L
> Birding.ABA.Org – http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NFC
>
> Please submit your observations to eBird! – http://ebird.org/content/
> ebird/
> --
>

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Re: [nfc-l] How do we know NFCs?

[Ted Floyd]

Jay Withgott?

You out there?

Could you post a PDF of your fine article in *Birding*, gasp, 16 years ago?
(Feels like yesterday.)

Best, --TF



===

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine
Managing Editor, *North American Birds*

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 12:50 AM, Wim van Dam  wrote:

> So as I'm starting to learn about NFCs the obvious question came to
> me: how do we know what we currently know?
>
> Do we typically infer ID features from daytime flight calls where we
> can visually verify our IDs? Or are night calls too different from
> daytime ones, meaning that we have/had to find other ways of matching
> calls with birds (netting, night time visual observations, etc)?
>
> Imagine somebody trying to get into NFCs in an unexplored part of the
> world. How does such a person start?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Wim van Dam
> Solvang, CA (USA)
>
> --
> NFC-L List Info:
>
> Welcome and Basics – http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME
> Rules and Information – http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES
> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave – http://www.northeastbirding.
> com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
>
> Archives:
> The Mail Archive – http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.
> html
> Surfbirds – http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L
> Birding.ABA.Org – http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NFC
>
> Please submit your observations to eBird! – http://ebird.org/content/
> ebird/
> --
>

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[nfc-l] Does "Gambel's" White-crowned Sparrow have a different flight call?

[Ted Floyd]

Hey, all. This is totally conjectural. And it's based on a small sample
size. But, hey, ya gotta start somewhere.

So...a bit more than a month ago, I posted a link to a "Gambel's"
White-crowned Sparrow (subspecies *gambelii*) flight call I'd uploaded to
eBird/Macaulay, and one person flat-out questioned the ID. That's cool.
Always good to maintain a healthy skepticism. However, the bird in question
was perched right in front of me, in broad daylight.

And now I have another such recording, definitely of a different bird
(different age), and it's not dissimilar from the first. Both have this
little squiggle at the end.

And the only Xeno-Canto upload of *gambelii* flight calls (other than my
own recordings), by Tayler Brooks, also shows the squiggle.

Again, a pretty small sample. And flight calls are variable. So I'm not
wedded to this. But I thought I'd put it out there.

Here are my two Macaulay uploads:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/75818451

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/70518311

And here is the Tayler Brooks recording:

http://www.xeno-canto.org/41863

It might well be nothing at all. But, given that Bill Evans has mentioned
that there's an effort under way to expand the library of flight calls
for *Flight
Calls of Migratory Birds* (hooray!), I guess I've been thinking a bit more
about taxa like *gambelii* that understandably aren't included in the
first/Eastern edition of Flight Calls.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

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Re: [nfc-l] Clay-colored Sparrow? southwestern Pennsylvania

[Ted Floyd]

I too wondered about White-crowned Sparrow--prone to the occasional
aberrant flight call, e.g.:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/70518311

(a bird of known identity).

That said, it looks and sounds like a Clay-colored Sparrow to me!

Best, --Ted


===

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine
Managing Editor, *North American Birds*

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Sun, Oct 15, 2017 at 2:04 PM, John Kearney <john.kear...@ns.sympatico.ca>
wrote:

> Hi Geoff,
>
> From my perspective, I wouldn’t rule out White-crowned Sparrow for this
> call. It begins to rise quite quickly, it’s a bit long in length and low in
> frequency for Clay-colored Sparrow.
>
> John
>
>
>
> Carleton, NS
>
>
>
> *From:* bounce-2397172-53237...@mm.list.cornell.edu [mailto:
> bounce-2397172-53237...@mm.list.cornell.edu] *On Behalf Of *Geoff Malosh
> *Sent:* October-14-17 17:50
> *To:* nf...@cornell.edu
> *Subject:* [nfc-l] Clay-colored Sparrow? southwestern Pennsylvania
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I recorded the attached clip in the early morning hours 11 October here in
> southwestern Pennsylvania. It looks and sounds like a pretty good candidate
> for Clay-colored Sparrow, which would be quite rare here and also represent
> a first for my location. Are there any other more likely possibilities I
> might be missing?
>
>
>
> It was a warm night so unfortunately there is a lot of cricket noise, but
> the higher frequencies are fairly clean and can be isolated, at least.
>
>
>
> Thanks very much, hope everyone is having good listening this fall.
>
>
>
> Geoff
>
>
>
> Geoff Malosh
>
> Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
>
> www.flickr.com/photos/geoffmalosh/
>
>
>
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Re: [nfc-l] Clay-colored Sparrow? southwestern Pennsylvania

[Ted Floyd]

I too wondered about White-crowned Sparrow--prone to the occasional
aberrant flight call, e.g.:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/70518311

(a bird of known identity).

That said, it looks and sounds like a Clay-colored Sparrow to me!

Best, --Ted


===

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine
Managing Editor, *North American Birds*

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Sun, Oct 15, 2017 at 2:04 PM, John Kearney 
wrote:

> Hi Geoff,
>
> From my perspective, I wouldn’t rule out White-crowned Sparrow for this
> call. It begins to rise quite quickly, it’s a bit long in length and low in
> frequency for Clay-colored Sparrow.
>
> John
>
>
>
> Carleton, NS
>
>
>
> *From:* bounce-2397172-53237...@mm.list.cornell.edu [mailto:
> bounce-2397172-53237...@mm.list.cornell.edu] *On Behalf Of *Geoff Malosh
> *Sent:* October-14-17 17:50
> *To:* nf...@cornell.edu
> *Subject:* [nfc-l] Clay-colored Sparrow? southwestern Pennsylvania
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I recorded the attached clip in the early morning hours 11 October here in
> southwestern Pennsylvania. It looks and sounds like a pretty good candidate
> for Clay-colored Sparrow, which would be quite rare here and also represent
> a first for my location. Are there any other more likely possibilities I
> might be missing?
>
>
>
> It was a warm night so unfortunately there is a lot of cricket noise, but
> the higher frequencies are fairly clean and can be isolated, at least.
>
>
>
> Thanks very much, hope everyone is having good listening this fall.
>
>
>
> Geoff
>
>
>
> Geoff Malosh
>
> Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
>
> www.flickr.com/photos/geoffmalosh/
>
>
>
> --
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[nfc-l] radar; Colorado, USA

[Ted Floyd]

Hey, everybody.

This isn't nocturnal, but it's pretty cool:

https://twitter.com/NWSBoulder/status/915274142341042178

(We believe it's a massive, broad-scale northward movement of Painted
Ladies. They were grounded for nearly 2 weeks by inclement weather in
Colorado, USA. Then the skies cleared, winds became southeasterly, and
gentle but pervasive upwelling gave the butterflies enough uplift to be
picked up by Doppler radar.)

Best, --Ted

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Re: [nfc-l] Just for fun (night flight call, Sept. 23, Lafayette, Colorado, USA)

[Ted Floyd]

On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 10:14 PM, Debbie Leick  wrote:

> Hi Ted,
> That is a nice recording! I have no idea what the call is. Grebe-ish
> popped into my head.
>

You got it!

Or, at least, I think you do.

Am pretty sure it's a Western Grebe. I've heard this call from Western
Grebes in flight, and, perhaps more to the point, I was recording at a lake
with a couple Western Grebes.

Hey, folks, while I have your attention, I thought I'd bring your attention
to an aberrant White-crowned Sparrow flight call:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/70518311

It's okay--really, it is!--for birds to give flight calls that deviate
somewhat to hugely from normal. I'm as big a fan as anybody of the idea
that many birds can be ID'd by their flight calls; but I'm also
increasingly struck by how many flight calls aren't quite right.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA


> I've attached a file with a call that sounds and looks similar to yours.
> Do you think they are the same?
> We recorded it the night of Sept 26 in southern Ravalli County, MT at a
> remote acoustic monitoring site.
> Thanks,
> Debbie Leick
> MPG Ranch
> Florence, MT
>
>
>
> * From: * Ted Floyd 
> * To: * NFC-L 
> * Sent: * 9/23/2017 4:51 AM
> * Subject: * [nfc-l] Just for fun (night flight call, Sept. 23,
> Lafayette, Colorado, USA)
>
> Hey, all. Anybody know what's calling at the 2.0-sec. mark? I'm pretty
> sure I know, but I thought I'd put it out there as a quiz. Check out the
> awesome reverb--and that's perhaps a clue.
>
> Also audible are the crickets *Oecanthus fultoni* and *Gryllus
> pennsylvanicus*. And a certain owl... ;-)
>
> Location is eastern Boulder County, Colorado, USA. Recorded earlier this
> Saturday morning, Sept. 23, under very light drizzle.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Ted Floyd
> Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA
>
> ===
>
> Ted Floyd
> Editor, *Birding* magazine
> Managing Editor, *North American Birds*
>
> Website: http://aba.org/birding
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
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[nfc-l] Dickcissel; Colorado sparrow flight

[Ted Floyd]

Hey, everybody. Two things:

On Sun, Nov 6, 2016 at 7:06 PM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
wrote:

> Yes, definitely a Dickcissel - the only bird that farts.
>

1. My 9-year-old son, who read Ken's note somewhat out of context, thinks
Ken's note is fantastic.

2. This is a week late, but check out this sparrow flight over Boulder
County, Colorado, USA, back on Sunday, Oct. 30:

http://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/38675901

http://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/38677171

Ted Floyd
Boulder County, Colorado, USA




>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Nov 6, 2016, at 2:23 PM, Bill Evans  wrote:
>
> Yes, that’s a Dickcissel. Congrats!
>
> Bill E
>
> *From:* Jerald 
> *Sent:* Sunday, November 06, 2016 1:53 PM
> *To:* nfc-l 
> *Subject:* [nfc-l] Possible Dickcissel NFC
>
> Hello all,
>
> Could someone with a bit more experience please confirm whether or not
> this is a Dickcissel? It's getting kind of late for them, and the call
> sounds a bit off. It was picked up by the Oldbird DICK detector at 0218,
> 11-2-16 over Dover, DE.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerald
> Dover, DE
>
> --
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>
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[nfc-l] Night flight, Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA, Oct. 2

[Ted Floyd]

Hey, all. Just thought I'd mention that two dozen of us on a Carolina Bird
Club outing enjoyed a nice night flight before sunrise yesterday, Sunday,
Oct. 2. We listened from the outskirts of the parking lot of the Quality
Inn in Beaufort.

Here's the eBird checklist, compiled by Mike McCloy:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31854183

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

===

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Editor, *Birding* magazine

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
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[nfc-l] Light Wilson's Warbler flight, Boulder County, Colorado, Aug. 17

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, everybody.

I heard a few Wilson's Warblers starting around the beginning of
astronomical dawn this hazy Wednesday morning, Aug. 17, Lafayette, eastern
Boulder County, Colorado, USA.

By the way, here's the trip report from a NFC field workshop here in
Boulder County a couple nights ago:

http://tinyurl.com/CFO-2016-08-12

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

===

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Editor, *Birding* magazine

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
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Re: [nfc-l] Another warbler

[Ted Floyd]

Hey, Jerald & all.

Sorry for the snarky reminder, but posts to this list are useful and
interesting only if they are accompanied by date and location info.

And I could go off on "banding codes" and people without surnames, but
that's for the admin... :-)

Thanks!

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, eastern Boulder County, Colorado, USA

P.s. The night flights of late here in eastern Boulder County, Colorado,
USA, have been quite light, but I've had two nights in the past week with
Upland Sandpipers (casual at best in Boulder County, except for detections
of flyovers at night). Otherwise, just a very light trickle of Chipping
Sparrows, Lark Sparrows, and Solitary Sandpipers.







===========

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

On Sun, Aug 7, 2016 at 10:08 PM, Jerald  wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> Warbler migration has begun in earnest. I have had at least one warbler
> NFC every night this week so far, with three redstarts, NOWA, and a few
> others. This one came through this morning an hour before sunrise. It may
> not be identifiable, but the call is really clear so I thought I'd send it
> out to see if anyone could ID it for me.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerald
>
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>
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fwd: [nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast

[Ted Floyd]

On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 10:29 PM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
wrote:

>  Andrew et al.,
>
>  I am by no means the expert here, and hopefully Andrew Farnsworth will
> chime in with any comments or suggestions, but basically all I do is listen
> in real time and count all the birds I can hear and identify. I don’t have
> a recording set-up at present. I’m fairly confident with many of the
> identifications but not with others — I use a lot of warbler sp. and
> sparrow sp.
>

Me too.

I also hear a lot of warbler/sparrow sp., and I wonder if that would be a
good category for eBird. Even during the day, but especially at night.

I have some recordings that I think are one of the following:
Orange-crowned Warbler, Virginia's Warbler, Clay-colored Sparrow, or
Brewer's Sparrow. That's why I think "warbler/sparrow sp." would be a nice
category.

Best, --Ted

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA




>  I feel I can usually estimate number of individual birds passing pretty
> easily based on the timing and position of the calling birds in the sky —
> where I am there are no lights and the birds pass over in a consistent
> direction, with most individuals calling only once or twice within my range
> of hearing. During heavy flights or dense pulses of calling activity, I
> just do my best to keep track of individuals, and sometimes will estimate
> the ratio of species identified during a given period and apply that to the
> number I’m estimating — functionally this isn’t any different from how I
> would estimate large flocks of ducks or shorebirds or migrating hawks.  I’m
> sure there’s a certain amount of error, but not greater than for most other
> kinds of birding.
>
>  Because I use BirdLog, I can easily tally the numbers as I go, but that
> also means I need to remember to change the protocol to NFC after the
> checklist is entered. (I believe BirdLog will eventually be able to record
> the NFC protocol, but I don’t know the timing on that).
>
>  Hope this is helpful,
>
>  KEN
>
>
>  Kenneth V. Rosenberg
> Conservation Science Program
> Cornell Lab of Ornithology
> Office: 607-254-2412
> cell: 607-342-4594
> k...@cornell.edu
>
>  On Sep 22, 2014, at 9:01 PM, Andrew Albright 
> wrote:
>
>  Ken (and Chris*),
>
> I have a different interpretation of the ebird NFC rules/guideliness than
> the Montgomery county (Pennsylvania) ebird compiler for listening live
> (cc'd here).
> http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1010492.
>
> It might be easier to just see an example of how you are logging your
> night flight calls into ebird because I think we are doing approximately
> the same activity - listening live and recording nfc that we can ID?  I
> checked "Recent Sightings" from Thompkins Co, NY and the only one example
> in  that I could find doesn't seem to fit guidelines
>
> *Other questions/improvement suggestings*
> 1) I brought up the question before about the species that you could
> conclusively identify as being separable, either partially or
> entirably. Even if it were not 100% agreed upon, I think it would be good
> if there were a standard that was used for nfc data entry, e.g. only those
> fields appear.   This would make data entry more standard, easier and
> provide a good starting point for a more detailed discussion.
>
> 2) It would be nice to provide a "cliff note" version of the
> instructions.  The weblink has quite a bit of information which could be
> broken down into background information and actionable instructions.
>
> 3) It would be good to push to have the smartphone app upgraded to enable
> more functionality that includes easy logging of the NFC protocol.
>
> Sincerely,
> Andrew Albright
>
>
> *Chris - If I recall, sometimes you post here that you listen live and
> sometimes you review remote recordings?
>
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 12:23 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
> wrote:
>
>>  Just had about 200 thrushes (mostly Swainsons but also many
>> Gray-cheeked and Wood Thrush) over my house in Northeast Ithaca in a 45 min
>> count - also 12 Green Herons and an Am Bittern
>>
>>  Ken
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Sep 18, 2014, at 9:41 PM, "Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" <
>> c...@cornell.edu> wrote:
>>
>>  Just a heads-up about a potential push of birds into this area
>> overnight tonight...
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>>  *From: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
>>  *Subject: **[nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast*
>>  *Date: *September 18, 2014 at 9:38:18 PM EDT
>>  *To: *NFC-L 
>>  *Reply-To: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes

[nfc-l] Ultimate flight call challenge

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Y'all back East (yes, I think I'm addressing the bulk of this list!) have
it relatively easy with September night flights: nice, loud, low
(low-pitch, often low-altitude) thrushes, grosbeaks, tanagers, and cuckoos,
flying through humid, dense air near sea level, sometimes with low cloud
ceilings. In other words, you can actually hear stuff!

It's a bit harder out West. Stuff seems to fly high in the the thin air,
and, in the summer and early autumn, it's almost entirely sparrow/warbler
calls.

Anybody want to give it a go with this?--

https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/flight-calls-3

There seem to be 18 flight calls in the ~35-second clip. Recorded at 5am
this Tuesday morning, Sept. 2, at Lafayette, eastern Boulder County,
Colorado, USA, so about 90 minutes before sunrise. Skies were clear, winds
calm, birds high. But they're there. You'll want to make a spectrogram, for
sure.

Would love to know what folks think about these. Just to move the
conversation forward (or perhaps send it off on a wild goose chase),
Colorado birders have credibly documented double digits of migrant Baird's
Sparrows during the past week.

I have no dog in this fight. Just keen on learning.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, eastern Boulder County, Colorado, USA

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[nfc-l] NFCs for a general audience

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, everybody.

I suppose it can sometimes seem as if the NFC community is breathing pretty
rarefied air, what with talk of fancy microphones, fancy spectrograms, and
barely audible "tseep" calls in the night.

But I also find that NFC field trips are successful with the general
birding public. We had a great NFC field trip this morning, with most of
the participants brand-new to the experience of listening at night. Here's
the recap:

http://tinyurl.com/CFO-trip-Aug-12-2014

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

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[nfc-l] Death of Peter Marler

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

This list still accepts attachments, right? I hope so. Well, see attached,
sure to be of interest to anybody who's ever pondered a spectrogram of a
flight call.

Ted Floyd
Layette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

P.s. Nice Chipping Sparrow flight tonight (early a.m. hours of Monday, July
28) over Lafayette. Sorry to be hogging up the bandwidth of late on this,
but...not to worry...I'm sure the Tompkins County love fest will be briskly
under way by mid-September... ;-)

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Peter Marler obit.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

[nfc-l] Real-time field report

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Quite understandably, we tend here at NFC-L to post our observations a bit
after the fact. Guilty as charged!--I've been known to wait days or even a
week or more before I actually post.

So I thought I'd mix things up tonight, and just let y'all know that
there's a decent nighttime Chipping Sparrow flight under way *right now,*
Lafayette, eastern Boulder County, Colorado, USA.

During the recently concluded 2am hour, I was hearing Chipping Sparrow
flight calls at a rate [JUST HEARD ONE, 3:11 a.m. local time] of about one
every four minutes. Nothing like the huge flights of thrushes, etc., the
East Coast listeners will get in September, but, still, a nice reminder
that there's plenty going on in the skies above our houses, even in the
West, [THERE GOES ANOTHER, 3:12 a.m.] even in July.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

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[nfc-l] And so it begins

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

I heard three Chipping Sparrow flight calls this morning, Friday, July 18,
2014, at 4:28 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time, Lafayette, eastern Boulder
County, Colorado, USA. Calm night, bright moonlight, no wind.

West-to-east vector, as expected: These Chipping Sparrows are midsummer
nocturnal migrants flying from pinewoods in the Rocky Mountains to recently
discovered molting grounds in far eastern Colorado and western Kansas (and
perhaps elsewhere).

For me, there is no greater thrill in this life than hearing their tiny
voices on hot summer nights in the western Great Plains. People say geese
fly south in the autumn, and so they do; also, sparrows fly east in the
middle of the summer in the dead of night. Is that cool or what?

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

===

Ted Floyd
Editor, *Birding* magazine

Website: http://aba.org/birding
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine>
The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/

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re:[nfc-l] Microphone Upgrade

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, everybody.

I recently posted an online review of various microphones for recording
bird vocalizations. Flight calls per se aren't really my focus in the
review, but several of the microphones I discuss (especially the
directional, shotgun-style Olympus LS-10) are fine for flight calls--as
long as you're actually out there with the recorder.

Here goes:

http://blog.aba.org/2014/07/how-to-record-birdsong-1.html

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

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[nfc-l] Two things

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

First off, a heads-up to night-listeners in *New York City, Ithaca,* and a
few other places. If you're out listening and recording at *2am this coming
Thursday morning, *March 20th, you're in for a once-in-lifetime celestial
phenomenon. Details and viewing instructions here:

http://www.longisland.com/news/03-16-14/asteroid-set-to-cover-one-of-the-brightest-stars-in-the-night-sky-thursday-morning.html

Second, I recently wrote a general-audience article on the delights of
listening and recording at night. No doubt a bit basic for many of us here
at NFC-L, but here it is, all the same:

http://cfobirds.org/downloads/journal/Birding_on_the_Dark_Side.pdf

All the best,

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

===

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Editor, *Birding* magazine

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[nfc-l] Flight call, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

I'm wondering if anybody has opinions, or even facts, regarding a flight
call I recorded during nautical dawn on Saturday, Nov. 2nd, 2013 over
Greenlee Preserve, eastern Boulder County, Colorado, USA.

I recorded the flight call three times, and I'm assuming that the three
calls came from the same bird, and that it was overhead. As you'll see (and
hear), the flight calls are faint. But I think there's enough
spectrographically for analysis.

The second call (presented here first) was the loudest, and it caught my
attention. I don't recall hearing the first flight call, and I heard the
third flight call only faintly.

Here's what I'm seeing on the spectrograms: All three are high-pitched (ca.
8 kHz), double-banded (upper band stronger than lower), fairly pure-tone
(i.e., little modulation), slightly descending throughout, and on average
108 milliseconds in duration (n=98, n=106, n=121 for the three flight
calls).

The entire calling sequence is too long for me to send to the list. (I
tried earlier, and the post bounced.) So these three clips are pretty
short. The low-frequency noise is the din of traffic; I was recording near
a busy road at a place where a lake and a marsh abut.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this one.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA

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Flight Call 02.wav
Description: Wave audio


Flight Call 03.wav
Description: Wave audio


Flight Call 01.wav
Description: Wave audio

Re: [nfc-l] Chipping Sparrows, eastern Boulder County, Colorado

[Ted Floyd]

P.s. Re: Yellow Warblers zeeping everywhere. Same here (Boulder County,
Colorado), but rarely at night. I don't think I'm just missing them, since
I'm perfectly able to hear (and record) them by day. They just don't seem
to call at night; maybe they just don't move at night, either, out West.
Probably just one of those east-vs.-west things, eh?

Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado




> Fascinating to think they disperse a night between broods. Meanwhile
> Yellow Warblers zeeping everywhere- should be a mass exodus tonight.
>
>>
>>  Ken, in Ithaca NY
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jul 20, 2013, at 10:24 AM, "Jeff Wells" 
>> wrote:
>>
>>   And I heard a Wood Thrush overhead around 10 PM a few nights ago here
>> in Gardiner, Maine
>>
>>  Jeff Wells
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jul 20, 2013, at 4:44 AM, "Ted Floyd"  wrote:
>>
>>  Hello, everybody.
>>
>>  A quick check-in here from somewhere other than the Cayuga Basin...  :-)
>>
>>  Chipping Sparrows are moving over Lafayette, eastern Boulder County,
>> USA, in the 2am hour right now, Saturday, July 20th. We believe that these
>> are birds bailing on their mountain breeding grounds for literally greener
>> pastures in eastern Colorado and western Kansas, where they molt.
>> Regardless, it's an annual phenomenon, beginning in mid-July (first
>> nighttime detection this year for me was July 16th), in the night skies
>> over the Denver metro area, and it's fascinating to witness.
>>
>>  Ted Floyd
>> tfl...@aba.org
>> Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
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Re: [nfc-l] Chipping Sparrows, eastern Boulder County, Colorado

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

[Chipping Sparrow just flew over at 4:10 a.m., Mountain Daylight Time,
i.e., during astronomical dawn, eastern Boulder County, Colorado, USA,
Tuesday, July 23rd.]

Cool observations and speculation from Ken. One point of clarification: In
contrast to the situation with Ken's thrashers, tanagers, etc., I wouldn't
say that western Chipping Sparrows are dispersing at night between broods.
Rather, they're dispersing at night from their one brood (I think) and
their faraway molting grounds.

It's been slow tonight, with just two Chipping Sparrow flight calls since
about 2:30 a.m. But it was nice to hear the first nigh-migrant Lark Sparrow
of the season, about 20 minutes ago.

Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

On Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 7:42 PM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg wrote:

>  There's definitely some mid- summer shuffling going on, as I've had
> singing Wood thrush, Veery, Brown Thrasher, and Scarlet Tanager in new
> places this past week. Fascinating to think they disperse a night between
> broods. Meanwhile Yellow Warblers zeeping everywhere- should be a mass
> exodus tonight.
>
>  Ken, in Ithaca NY
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jul 20, 2013, at 10:24 AM, "Jeff Wells" 
> wrote:
>
>   And I heard a Wood Thrush overhead around 10 PM a few nights ago here
> in Gardiner, Maine
>
>  Jeff Wells
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jul 20, 2013, at 4:44 AM, "Ted Floyd"  wrote:
>
>  Hello, everybody.
>
>  A quick check-in here from somewhere other than the Cayuga Basin...  :-)
>
>  Chipping Sparrows are moving over Lafayette, eastern Boulder County,
> USA, in the 2am hour right now, Saturday, July 20th. We believe that these
> are birds bailing on their mountain breeding grounds for literally greener
> pastures in eastern Colorado and western Kansas, where they molt.
> Regardless, it's an annual phenomenon, beginning in mid-July (first
> nighttime detection this year for me was July 16th), in the night skies
> over the Denver metro area, and it's fascinating to witness.
>
>  Ted Floyd
> tfl...@aba.org
> Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
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[nfc-l] Chipping Sparrows, eastern Boulder County, Colorado

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, everybody.

A quick check-in here from somewhere other than the Cayuga Basin...  :-)

Chipping Sparrows are moving over Lafayette, eastern Boulder County, USA,
in the 2am hour right now, Saturday, July 20th. We believe that these are
birds bailing on their mountain breeding grounds for literally greener
pastures in eastern Colorado and western Kansas, where they molt.
Regardless, it's an annual phenomenon, beginning in mid-July (first
nighttime detection this year for me was July 16th), in the night skies
over the Denver metro area, and it's fascinating to witness.

Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

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Re: [nfc-l] Fwd: Understanding radar and quantifying migration

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

If you just can't get enough from Andrew Farnsworth ([?]), try this:

http://www2.aba.org/page.aspx?pid=696

Farnsworth provides 8 tips for "Learning to Appreciate Nocturnal Flight
Calls," and he provides a bunch of flight calls for us to listen to. I note
that the link above requires an ABA login. So, assuming that not all of you
have ABA logins, I paste below the full text.

Ted Floyd, Colorado, tfl...@aba.org



Andrew Farnsworth’s Expert Advice for Learning to Appreciate Flight Calls



Lots of people ask how they can best begin to appreciate flight calls. I
have a few suggestions.

*1. Commit to It.*
To really learn flight calls, commit yourself to spending a lot of time
awake at night, outside, staring up at the sky.

*[image: Magnolia Warbler
Spectrogram]<http://www.aba.org/birding/05MagnoliaWarbler.wav>
**2. Start with Sounds You Know.*
Stick with calls that you hear both day and night, such as the distinctive
flight calls of the Dickcissel <http://www.aba.org/birding/01Dickcissel.wav>
, Bobolink <http://www.aba.org/birding/02Bobolink.wav>, andUpland
Sandpiper<http://www.aba.org/birding/03UplandSandpiper.wav>.
The suite of sounds from these species is a great way to get started.

*3. Do Some Homework.*
Extensively review Bill Evans and Michael O’Brien’s seminal identification
guide on CD-ROM: *Flight Calls of Migratory Birds: Eastern North American
Landbirds* <http://www.oldbird.org/fcmbirds.htm>. Listening to the calls *
and* looking at the sound spectrograms is critical to learning. Tuning your
ear to very subtle variation in flight call frequencies, modulations, and
durations is tricky, and using visual representations (the spectrograms)
gives your aural discrimination a boost by adding the visual information. *
Seeing* that a Magnolia Warbler has a modulated flight call (see sound
spectrogram, right and *hearing* the same
call<http://www.aba.org/birding/05MagnoliaWarbler.wav> is
very important for the learning process.

*4. Tune in to Common Nocturnal Vocalizers.*
After that initial suite of diurnal and nocturnal vocalizers, get to know
some widespread and common nocturnal vocalizers, such as the Savannah
Sparrow <http://www.aba.org/birding/06SavannahSparrow.wav> and Swainson’s
Thrush <http://www.aba.org/birding/07SwainsonsThrush.wav>. Because these
species give flight calls day and night, this suite of sounds can be a big
confidence booster: “Hey, I know that sound, I heard it during the day!”
Starting with common sounds gives you a reference frame. Then you can
branch into more esoteric ground. And you’ll need to do some heavy-duty
birding at “morning flight” locations. Any time you can spend time in the
field seeing birds in migration and hearing them produce flight calls, do
it! Arizona’s San Pedro River Valley, Higbee Beach in New Jersey, Matagorda
Island in Texas, and Florida’s Green Key funnel are all great places to see
and hear.

*5. Get Away from Urban Areas—or Not.*
Get away from urban areas if you want to experience the sound of nocturnal
migration without much human interference. I realize, though, that it is
more and more difficult to do this. If you are not a purist, and you are
willing to take advantage of what is probably a type of alarm behavior,
station yourself in a well lit and sporadically noisy place like, say,
Hackensack, New Jersey, in May on a night with warm southerly winds. The
passing air traffic from Newark frequently stimulates birds to vocalize,
and you might hear a Gray-cheeked
Thrush<http://www.aba.org/birding/08GraycheekedThrush.wav>,
an American Redstart <http://www.aba.org/birding/09AmericanRedstart.wav>,
or a Yellow-billed Cuckoo<http://www.aba.org/birding/10YellowbilledCuckoo.wav>.
Also, the surrounding lights of humanity that color the night sky close to
urban centers, and punctuate the sky in many places, can actually stimulate
migration. One epic case is the Tribute in Light September 11 memorial in
Manhattan. One of the most amazing nights of flight calling in recent
history in the northeastern U.S. occurred there in 2011. I had the good
fortune of running a recording device, which documented tens of thousands
of calls from birds flying around the beams of light.

*6. Focus on the Fall.*
Generally, fall migration is a time of much higher calling activity,
presumably because there are simply more birds aloft and many of these
birds are young birds that appear to vocalize more frequently.

*7. Pick Your Time.*
Choose the best time of night for the species you want to hear. Numerous
studies have shown a peak in calling activity in the hours just before
dawn, but the peaks in calling vary by species. The pre-dawn hours are no
doubt the best hours to hear *Catharus*
thrushes<http://www.aba.org/birding/11Catharusthrushes.wav>,
sometimes by the thousands. However, calling activity can be excellent
throughout the evening depending on prevailing local and regional win

Re: [nfc-l] Importing playable spectrograms into MS powerpoint?

[Ted Floyd]

A quick tip that has surely occurred to some folks, but here goes:

If you have, say, a 5-second clip and a corresponding 5-second-long sound
spectrogram, then create an animation of the sound spectrogram, 5 seconds
long, that runs from left to right. It follows the audio perfectly, and
people get to "see" the sound while they're listening to it.

Works great, and it's just 3 or 4 steps of "programming" (as if) in
PowerPoint.

Best,
Ted




On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 2:50 PM, Benjamin Van Doren wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I've had good results with iShowU as well doing just this thing.
>
> Benjamin Van Doren
>
>
> On Friday, February 8, 2013, Wil Hershberger wrote:
>
>> Another software package that works very well is iShowU by
>> shinywhitebox.com
>> I have had no problems capturing spectrograms from Raven, Audacity,
>> iZotope RX, etc. It requires soundflower to record the system audio, but
>> that seems to install with the app.
>>
>>  *
>> Wil Hershberger*
>>Nature Images and Sounds, LLC 
>> Hedgesville, WV
>> The Songs of Insects 
>> My Blog 
>>
>>
>>
>> On Feb 8, 2013, at 2:42 PM, "Benjamin M. Clock" 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Andy,
>> Another good piece of Software for capturing the scrolling spectrogram
>> out of Raven that I have had success with is called ScreenFlow.  I have
>> used SnapzPro in the past and I like ScreenFlow a lot better.  The exported
>> videos can be embedded in your PP project.
>>
>> Playing the scrolling Spectrograms definitely makes a talk a lot more
>> dynamic than listening to sounds while looking at a dark screen.
>> Good luck,
>>
>> Benjamin M. Clock
>> Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds and Video
>> bm...@cornell.edu
>>
>> On Feb 8, 2013, at 2:21 PM, Andy Martin wrote:
>>
>> Hello NFCers,
>>
>> I am preparing a talk about Recording NFCs to give to my local bird club
>> in a few weeks. I don't have a lot of experience with Powerpoint but was
>> wondering if anybody out there has incorporated spectrograms (for my
>> purposes, generated through Ravenlite) into a powerpoint presentation?
>>
>> My thinking at this point was to do a regular presentation with photos
>> and some graphics with powerpoint, close that down and open and project
>> Ravenlite on screen (with external speakers from laptop) to finish the talk
>> with some NFC examples. Seemed the easiest way to go for my level of
>> experience with computers and also I would especially like to be able to
>> project the Ravenlite time scroll bar, thinking that will help my audience
>> pinpoint when to expect the sound.
>>
>> However, if its easy to incorporate a playable spectrogram directly into
>> Powerpoint, that might work better and give a more logical flow to the
>> presentation.
>>
>> Anybody on the list dealt with this issue?
>>
>> Thanks for any advice.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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Re: [nfc-l] Nice night flight underway right now: Blackwater Falls State Park, Tucker County, WV

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.I've gone back and listened to the recordings, and it looks as if almost all the "mystery calls" are those of Blackpoll Warblers.Honestly, I wondered at the time if that was the case. But I dismissed that possibility, as I would have said that a heavy Blackpoll flight would have been out of the question so late as 27 October. Then again, I remember that the folks at Cape May told me last year that fall Blackpoll flights have been occurring later in recent years. I'm dating myself, but "back in the old days," we would have been down to only a trickle of Blackpolls in the Appalachians by mid-October--or so it seemed at the time.Anyhow, 100+ Blackpoll Warblers during about an hour last Saturday evening.On a paranoid note, I would appreciate it if somebody take a look at the attached sampling, and confirm that I'm right. Am still entertaining the possibility that I'm totally barking up the wrong tree with this one. Always eager to learn, and never mind being proved wrong.Thanks!Ted Floydtfl...@aba.orgLafayette, Boulder County, Colorado   Hello, Birders.I've been listening and recording this past hour (10:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.), Saturday, Oct. 27th, at Blackwater Falls State Park, Tucker County, WV. Lots of stuff on the move in the fog and mist. Not really sure about most of it, and I forgot to bring with me the cable to connect the recorder to the laptop...  :-(I'm nearly sure a few of them have been Common Yellowthroats--low (for a warbler), short-duration, and very buzzy. Nothing else really comes to mind. I think I recorded a couple of Palm Warblers, too. Not so sure about the others, honestly.Yesterday morning, Friday, Oct. 26th, I heard lots of White-throated Sparrows landing at dawn in the East End section of PIttsburgh, Allegheny County, PA. And sure enough, White-throats were all over that morning, after sunrise, at Frick Park and in the East End neighborhoods.I suspect this is the last night for a while that anybody in the ne. USA will be hearing nocturnal migrant warblers and sparrows!Ted Floydtfl...@aba.orgLafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
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[nfc-l] Nice night flight underway right now: Blackwater Falls State Park, Tucker County, WV

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Birders.

I've been listening and recording this past hour (10:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.), 
Saturday, Oct. 27th, at Blackwater Falls State Park, Tucker County, WV. Lots of 
stuff on the move in the fog and mist. Not really sure about most of it, and I 
forgot to bring with me the cable to connect the recorder to the laptop...  :-(

I'm nearly sure a few of them have been Common Yellowthroats--low (for a 
warbler), short-duration, and very buzzy. Nothing else really comes to mind. I 
think I recorded a couple of Palm Warblers, too. Not so sure about the others, 
honestly.

Yesterday morning, Friday, Oct. 26th, I heard lots of White-throated Sparrows 
landing at dawn in the East End section of PIttsburgh, Allegheny County, PA. 
And sure enough, White-throats were all over that morning, after sunrise, at 
Frick Park and in the East End neighborhoods.

I suspect this is the last night for a while that anybody in the ne. USA will 
be hearing nocturnal migrant warblers and sparrows!

Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
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[nfc-l] Nocturnal migration in Colorado

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all. 

Just a quick report from Colorado.

First, I've missed many nights of late, as I was in New York (along with 95% of 
everybody else on this list, it seems!) for 8 days in early August. How do you 
people hear ANYTHING over the katydids and cicadas??

Anyhow, we've had only one decent push of migrants that I've been aware of. On 
July 31st, between 3am and 4am, Lafayette, e. Boulder County, Colorado: at 
least 44 Chipping Sparrow flight calls, decently spaced out throughout the 
hour. Perfect conditions that night: a light westerly wind (our mid-summer 
movements appear to be due east) and a low cloud ceiling.

The past few nights have been super-slow, with just a trickle (4-5 flight calls 
per hour) of Chipping Sparrows, Lark Sparrows, Common Yellowthroats, and a 
presumed Vesper Sparrow. Oddly, no Yellow Warblers that I can discern, even 
though they are swarming the lowlands, giving flight calls constantly, by day.

Ted Floyd
tedfloy...@hotmail.com
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado



On Aug 13, 2012, at 6:22 AM, david nicosia wrote:

> Woke at 430 am and could not fall back asleep.
> So instead of counting sheep, I decided to sit on my
> deck and count migrating birds or at least try. 
> I began 450 am and ended at 520 am so it was
> a solid half hour...then back to sleep!
> 
> There was a decent flight going on as I could hear
> many calls up there that were unidentifiable. 
> I did have some lower flyers that I was easily
> able to ID. 
> 
> Numbers aren't high but again there were many more birds
> higher up that I could barely hear. 
> 
> 15 VEERY, 9 WOOD THRUSH, 3 INDIGO BUNTINGS,
> 2 BOBOLINKS, 2 YELLOW WARBLERS and
> the best bird for me was a SCARLET TANAGER
> that was flying very low and half singing his
> song. It was a "whisper" song with a few chip-burrs.
> The bird was not flying as fast as he persisted for
> 20-30 seconds while calling. 
> 
> I also heard my resident SCREECH OWL that
> I have not heard in a long time. I also had an AMERICAN 
> GOLDFINCH call once but this guy probably was a 
> local bird since I regularly have 20-30 at my feeder 
> each day.
> 
> Dave Nicosia
> Johnson City, NY  
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[nfc-l] Nocturnal migration, eastern Boulder County, Colorado, July 26th

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, all.

We had a nice, steady night flight this "morning," Thursday, 7/26, from
3:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. (nautical dawn begins around 4:50 for us), over
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado. Birds detected were Chipping Sparrows,
Lark Sparrows, and 1 or 2 flocks of Baird's Sandpipers. All expected fare
for us in late July, but always cool to hear migration at night in July.

Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

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Re:[nfc-l] Recording bird calls (Was: Marantz PMD670 recording 'kit' for sale)

[Ted Floyd]

> "...and if it wasn't for those pesky kids, and Ted Floyd, I would have gotten 
> away with it!"
> 
> Seriously though, I'm ditching the Marantz under the premise that "the best 
> recording device you have is the one in your pocket". I'm moving towards an 
> iPhone-based recording system 

Re: iPhone-based recording system.

Here's a great intro, with some compelling examples, by Bill Schmoker:

http://blog.aba.org/2012/04/mic-up-that-iphone.html

And some follow-up from Bill, here:

http://blog.aba.org/2012/05/mic-up-that-iphone-follow-up.html

I can't resist noting that under Bill's "Best" category (he gives us "Good," 
"Better," and "Best") the name David La Puma is prominently featured...  ;-)

Enjoy!

Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
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[nfc-l] Recording bird calls (Was: Marantz PMD670 recording 'kit' for sale)

[Ted Floyd]

> 
> Hey NFC recordists- I'm selling my Marantz PMD670 on eBay at the following 
> listing: 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/330755627784ssPageName=STRK:MESCX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1554.l2649
> 

Hi, David & all.

I hope the following doesn't cut into David's profit...  ;-)

Anyhow, on the subject of recording equipment, I've just posted to The ABA Blog 
a detailed, three-part post (I can hear the groans already...) on my overall 
successes (and a few frustrations) with a minuscule and inexpensive recorder. 
When I say minuscule, I mean it: The contraption is a fair bit smaller than my 
cell phone, and I have a dumb phone, so it's small to begin with. Cost, $50.

Here are the links:

http://blog.aba.org/2012/06/document-rarities-part-1.html

http://blog.aba.org/2012/06/document-rarities-part-2.html

http://blog.aba.org/2012/06/document-rarities-part-3.html

Thanks!

Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado


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RE: [nfc-l] First night flight of 2012?

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.
 
Agreed with everybody that it's fascinating to observer these mid-winter
movements. (And I'm a fan of mid-summer movements, too!)
 
Here's a tidbit from Jon Dunn and Kimball Garrett's Warblers (Houghton
Mifflin, 1997):
 
"Unlike most other warblers, Yellow-rumps may move considerably through
the winter season (facultative migration), probably in response to
shifting food resources; this movement even involves nocturnal migration
behavior more typical of spring and fall."
 
Here in Colorado, we sometimes hear American Tree Sparrows flying at
night in the dead of winter. (Long story short: movements possibly
associated with the midwinter prealternate molt???--now known to be more
extensive that was previously thought.) And imagine if we listened with
the same intensity that we do in Sept. and Oct.!
 
Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org <mailto:tfl...@aba.org> 
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
 
 
 
 



From: bounce-39931144-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-39931144-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Steve
Kelling
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 2:28 PM
To: Kenneth Victor Rosenberg
Cc: Michael O'Brien; Andrew Albright; NFC-L
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] First night flight of 2012?


I think birds move around at night year-round. For example in Jan and
Feb, I record the flight calls of Snow Buntings during the pre-dawn
(0430-0700) of many mornings. Last winter I recorded Common Redpolls
also in the pre-dawn.  I occasionally will record American Robins at
this time. I seldom (never Snow Buntings) get these birds on the ground
during my daily dawn eBird counts.

Steve Kelling


On Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 3:44 PM, Kenneth Victor Rosenberg
 wrote:


Ithaca, NY had it's first Killdeer of the year yesterday, so a
few birds are likely moving (but north with the mild weather, or south
with the arriving cold snap??) 

KEN




Ken Rosenberg
Conservation Science Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
607-254-2412
607-342-4594 (cell)
k...@cornell.edu

On Feb 8, 2012, at 1:50 PM, Michael O'Brien wrote:



Andrew,

It should not be a big surprise to hear a single
nocturnal migrant Killdeer at this time of year in Pennsylvania. Spring
migrants begin moving in February, and "fall" migrants will sometimes
move any time in winter if they get pushed out of northern areas by cold
weather or snow. This has been a mild winter, so there were likely more
Killdeers lingering at northern latitudes than usual. Still, it's really
cool to hear a nocturnal migrant in mid-winter, and great to document
it!

best wishes,
Michael


Michael O'Brien
Victor Emanuel Nature Tours
www.ventbird.com



From: "Andrew Albright" 
To: "nfc-l" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 10:13:54 PM
Subject: [nfc-l] First night flight of 2012?

I just got back from running (more than 3 hours after
nightfall) and I
heard a Killdeer fly overhead!

I'm in southeastern PA and this is very rare bird in the
winter for
this county.  Sodoes this count as a night flight?
What in the
world is this bird doing?

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RE: [nfc-l] Pacific NW

[Ted Floyd]

Woohoo! It's great to know that folks are listening in places other than
New York and New Jersey...  ;)

The past few nights, FYI, Michael Retter and I and others (we were at
the ABA's 2011 birding conference) noticed nice Swainson's Thrush
flights over Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County, California. 

All best,
Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado






-Original Message-
From: bounce-38118366-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-38118366-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of
prai...@dswebnet.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 10:02 AM
To: NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: [nfc-l] Pacific NW


Lots of birds overhead last night in the Pacific NW (Willamette Valley,
near Eugene, OR).  Anyone have their ears out?  I was only out for a few
minutes an heard about 5 calls in 2 minutes over the very loud traffic
noise.  No ID's.

Best,

~Caitlin

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RE: [nfc-l] First migration of the season possible tonight in the mid-atlantic?

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.
 
Thanks for the report.
 
What fascinates me, from my Interior West perspective, is the phrase
"first migration of the season possible tonight."
 
Basically, we're done, finished, outta here, night-flight-wise, here in
central Colorado. We had our biggest flights of the "fall" season a
month ago. We were having heavier flights in mid-July than we are now.
(ZERO flight calls the past week.)
 
That said, we do get occasional light-to-moderate Sept. and Oct. and
even early Nov. night flights in central Colorado. And rarely, they're
heavy, as in the early morning of Sept. 29, 2008 (Bryan G., what was
going on, winds-aloft-wise, that night??). But, basically, we're into
the winter doldrums already!
 
All best,
Ted Floyd
 
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
 
 


From: bounce-38019350-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-38019350-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of David La
Puma
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 9:25 PM
To: Andrew Albright
Cc: nfc-l
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] First migration of the season possible tonight in
the mid-atlantic?


Andrew et al.:

oh, It's DEFINITELY ON:
http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/radar/nids/images/N0R/KUSA/20110909_030900.p
ng

heavy migration out of the NE US tonight almost exclusively on NE winds
and heading SW as a result (not good for Cape May- but good for inland
migrant traps). 

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[nfc-l] Nocturnal flight calls in Iowa and Colorado

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, all.

Thought I'd just report on a few recent early-morning listenings.

On Sunday morning, August 28th, in Decorah, Winneshiek County,
northeastern Iowa, more than 20 participants in an Iowa Ornithologists'
Union field trip enjoyed a cool, calm, starry night on a hilltop at Seed
Savers Exchange. We listened for 45 minutes starting at 5:00 a.m., and
we enjoyed a slow but steady flight of Veeries, Swainson's Thrushes,
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and some grosbeak/tanager flight calls. Also a
few American Redstarts, a number of Chipping Sparrows (I believe the
Chipping Sparrows were just local birds moving around, doing the
zugunruhe thing), and various warbler/sparrow flight calls. Nice to hear
Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, and Eastern Screech-Owl, and fascinating,
if a bit morbid, to watch John Bissell get decapitated by a Common
Nighthawk. Poor fella didn't have a chance...

This Monday morning, August 29th, I listened for a little while here in
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, starting at 5:00 a.m. There were a
few high clouds, and winds were out of the north-northeast. As in Iowa
the night before, the flight was slow but steady--an average of right
around 1 flight call per minute. Most numerous were the flight calls of
Wilson's Warblers and flight calls that I believe are those of Brewer's
Sparrow. Also a few Chipping Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, Lark Buntings,
and Lincoln's Sparrows. An ear-piercingly loud Solitary Sandpiper was
nice, too.

A comment. So far this year (it could all change tomorrow, I realize!),
the "fall" of 2011 is shaping up to be the poster-child year for my take
on the prevalence and intensity of mid-summer nocturnal migration in
Colorado vs. "normal" migration later in the season. I detected many
more nocturnal flight calls per hour during the period 18 July 2011 - 9
August 2011 than I have in the period 10 August 2011 through the
present.

-------

Ted Floyd 
Editor, Birding 

Please check out the website of the ABA: http://tinyurl.com/6kmbfvx

And please check out The ABA Blog: http://tinyurl.com/4n6qswt

We're on twitter, too: http://tinyurl.com/2ejzlzv

---

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[nfc-l] Nocturnal migration, Boulder County, Colorado; July 18th

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, all.

Just a quick note here. I heard 7 Chipping Sparrow flight calls during
about 15 minutes at around 4am this morning, Monday, July 18th, 2011.
Location was Lafayette, eastern Boulder County, Colorado. Chipping
Sparrows do not breed in eastern Boulder County. These were nocturnal
migrants heading east from their breeding grounds in the Rocky Mountains
to their molting grounds on the plains of eastern Colorado and western
Kansas. 

Fun to hear "fall" migrants in mid-July!

-------

Ted Floyd 
Editor, Birding 

Please check out the website of the ABA: http://tinyurl.com/6kmbfvx

And please check out The ABA Blog: http://tinyurl.com/4n6qswt

We're on twitter, too: http://tinyurl.com/2ejzlzv

---

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RE: [nfc-l] Good migration conditions tonight?

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.
 
Your friendly neighborhood western correspondent checking in here...
 
The flight last night (i.e., early Monday morning, May 15th) was
excellent, by our standards, here in the foothills of the Colorado
Rockies. Indeed, I would say it was probably the best spring flight I
have ever heard in Colorado. (Our flights in August and even late July
can be better.) Anyhow, in the spring we get such a flight about once
every two years, and conditions are invariably, it seems, as they were
overnight: light southeast winds; a low cloud ceiling; and, most
important, everything backed up the past few days with persistent rain
and snow over eastern Colorado. In other words, the floodgates opened.
During the 3am hour, I heard Swainson's Thrushes at 75 flights calls per
hour (very high for us), a Veery (rarely detected on migration here),
and a great variety of warblers and sparrows. A lot of the
warbler/sparrow flight calls were unidentified, but I believe many of
them were Chipping Sparrow, Brewer's Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow,
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, and
Yellow/Blackpoll Warblers. Spotted Sandpipers were in the mix, too.
 
Best,
Ted Floyd
 
Boulder County, Colorado
 
 
 
 
 



From: bounce-29048422-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-29048422-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of David La
Puma
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 8:08 PM
To: Andrew Albright
Cc: nfc-l
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] Good migration conditions tonight?


Without knowing the average distribution of NFC's throughout a season,
my hunch is that it should be good. We're still within the "peak flight"
period for NY State, which makes me think the Mid-Atlantic still has
some solid nights ahead of it. I'm firing up my mic now!

cheers

David






David A. La Puma
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On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 9:38 PM, Andrew Albright
 wrote:


Here outside of Philly (NW) the clouds have disappeared and
there is
actually a full moon and winds out of the south.

Should there still be good possibilities for nfc's tonight or
are we
getting too late in the migration season?

Sincerely,
Andrew Albright
Maple Glen, PA

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[nfc-l] Nocturnal migration in southern Portugal

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Here's a little e-essay (with photos and soundfiles of birds we don't
see/hear too often in North America) I just wrote:

http://bit.ly/9fykL8

---

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

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RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Ted Floyd]

. 22, 1985. Could it be something of a wild
goose chase to analyze conditions at sunset on Sept. 21st a few hundred
miles north of Pittsburgh? Instead, might the birds have responsed to
changing conditions, on location, as they happened? They're not
sleeping, anyhow! So why not just get up and go? That would be
consistent with the data provided by Bryan.
 
The bottom line is, There was an amazing movement pre-dawn that morning.
That phenomenon doesn't seem to fit the classic model, as Bryan
persuasively points out. But maybe it's consistent with the emerging
idea that birds adapt to local conditions as they are happening?
 
---

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine
<http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine> 

--- 

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Re:[nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

I've been enjoying the discussion of the "monumental nocturnal
migration" of Sept. 10-11, 2010.

Which reminds me of something. It's a bit obscure, but I think some of
you may appreciate it--and may be able to help with something. We're
coming up on the 25th anniversary of the greatest nocturnal migration
event I've ever witnessed: huge numbers of warblers (and sparrows?) and
good (but not huge) numbers of "thrushes" (Rose-breasted Grosbeaks?--see
below), the night of Sept. 21-22, 1985, over Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I
was in high school at the time, and I had a paper route that required me
to be out well before sunrise.

Anyhow, I was blown away by the numbers of "warblers and sparrows" and
fairly impressed by the number of "thrushes" I heard--and wrote about in
my field notes--before dawn that morning. After sunrise, I noted large
numbers of grounded Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (were those the
"thrushes"?--then again, maybe I just missed skulking thrushes), plus
warblers (but I see no mention in my notes of grounded migrant
sparrows). 

My question is: Does anybody have insight, 25 years later, as to what
precipitated this event? At the time, I wouldn't have thought to consult
radar, NFC-L, or the flight calls CD-ROM...  ;)

...

Changing the subject, thanks for the offline inquiries about viewing
Uranus while listening to nocturnal migrants. And apologies to those of
you who had some technical difficulties with my earlier sky chart. Well,
try this, it (now) works:

http://tinyurl.com/38svymy

---

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

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[nfc-l] While you're out listening and recording...

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Not quite a bird note, but I think most of you will be okay with this.
For the next few nights, viewing of Uranus (large celestial body, not a
bird) may be the best for the rest of our lifetimes. If you're in the
mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere (Ithaca, Denver, Lisbon...),
and if you're out after midnight (as I know many of us are), just point
your binoculars at Jupiter (brightest object in the sky, by far); the
green dot just to the "right" (to the west) of Jupiter is Uranus. It is
that easy. The post-midnight sky will be moonless for the next few
nights.

If you live in, say, western Kansas or the Colorado Rockies, you don't
even need binoculars; Uranus is bright enough now to be seen with the
naked eye. If you live in a hazy, low-elevation place like Ithaca, use
binoculars.

Enjoy!

-------

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

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[nfc-l] Wilson's Warbler flight

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

I hope the Veery and Swainson's Thrush flight Back East is great.
Meanwhile, Bill Evans  writes:

> Incidentally, the most Wilson's Warbler flight calls that were 
> documented in any of the nights noted in the graph above was 31
> in nine hours of nocturnal flight call monitoring on Sep 4-5, 1992
> (post hurricane Andrew). That figure considers calls within one 
> minute of one another as a single call event and a theoretical 
> individual passing (there were 33 total WIWA calls that night).
> Ted Floyd noted yesterday that he and his son heard WIWA flight 
> calls at a rate of 80/hr a few nights ago in Lafayette, CO. Such 
> a rate would be unprecedented in the east, though the timing of 
> the flight appears to be parallel. The good news for the typically
> WIWA-starved folks in southern New Jersey is that if there were 
> ever a weather situation that would amplify your chances of recording
> WIWA night flight calls, this is it and the next two nights should
> deliver. 

To put things in perspective, Wilson's Warblers are abundant, to say the
least, in the Front Range urban corridor of the Rockies, where I live,
from late August to early September. If you know the species' daytime
"chip note," you hear it frequently throughout the daytime hours,
everywhere in the Front Range region. If you're actively birding for the
better part of the day, you'll easily see and hear 50+ Wilson's
Warblers--more than any other warbler species, and often more than all
other warblers *combined*. I've seen more than 200 at a single migrant
trap in the Front Range region. Wilson's Warblers at migrant traps a
little ways to the east of the Rocky Mountains are about the closest we
have to a parking-lot-at-Higbee-Beach phenomenon, here in Colorado.

My point, if it's not already obvious, is that Wilson's Warbler is
common as dirt here. (I assume most of our birds are pileolatas, with
the bulk of "your" pusillas being to our east.) So although the heavy
flights we hear in central Colorado would be "unprecedented" in the
east, I think they make sense here. There's simply a huge volume of
birds funnelling through a pretty narrow migratory corridor. For an East
Coast analogy, think of Myrtle Warblers in the coastal thickets, or
Ruby-crowned Kinglets flitting through the branches, or White-throated
Sparrows calling back in the woods--that's Wilson's Warbler for you in
our region.

I mean, our Brewer's Sparrow flights would be unprecedented in the East,
too...  ;)

Two other things:

1. Bill notes the timing of the fall flights of Wilson's Warblers are
parallel for the Eastern and Mountain time zones. That would appear to
be the case, but I wouldn't read too much into it, given that we are
dealing with different subspecies. Consider the differences in the
timing of the flights of eastern vs. western Chipping Sparrows; the
heaviest Chipping Sparrow (subspecies arizonae) flight this year for me
here in Colorado was the night of July 30-31, whereas I imagine
listeners/recorders in the East have yet to hear the heaviest Chipping
Sparrow (subspecies passerina) flight of the year. Or consider the
differences in the timing of the flights of eastern vs. western
Orange-crowned Warblers. Orange-crowns (subspecies orestera) are very
much on the move here by late August, but credible reports at
mid-latitudes in the East (subspecies celata) are quite uncommon until
around Sept. 20th.

2. With just a moment's reflection, you can tell that Bill is using a
more conservative reporting standard than I am. Indeed, Bill's
conservative standard would give an absolute maximum of 60 flight calls
per hour. For my purposes and interests, the total number of flight
calls detected per unit time works best; but I accept that Bill's
standard might be better in other applications. Oh, and just to open up
a can of worms, I note that *any* measure of detection is just a
proxy--almost unquestionably with certain statistical biases--for the
"true" population. Is calling intensity density-dependent, for example?
If so, and I think that's a distinct possibility, then the whole
question of heavy vs. light flights is subtly circular.

Best,
Ted

---

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

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[nfc-l] Wilson's Warbler night flight, etc. Boulder County, Colorado

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, All.

A few nights ago, we had a nice night flight of Wilson's Warblers over
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado. Starting at 2:15 am on Sunday,
September 5th, my son and I listened to Wilson's Warblers flying over at
a rate of 80 flight calls per hour. It was a clear, warm night, with no
wind.

When we went back to bed around 3:30, we could still hear them, loud and
clear, through the bedroom window. By early September, Wilson's Warbler
is sorta the "Swainson's Thrush of Colorado," by which I mean it's the
dominant, distinctive, loud (it's all relative) flight call commonly
heard on clear nights with calm or gentle north winds. Meanwhile, we
hear practically no Catharus thrushes here...  :(

Earlier today, Tuesday, starting at 3:15 a.m., the fight was diminished;
only about a dozen Wilson's Warblers per hour. Conditions were
"interesting": dense smoke pushed south by gentle north winds. Flight
calls seemed especially loud, perhaps because the birds (a few Chipping
Sparrows and Yellow Warblers in the mix, too) were pushed down closer to
the ground. Or perhaps because sound carries better in dense,
particulate air?--could be.

One last note. At dawn today, I heard a Lincoln's Sparrow quite close.
And then it landed in the tree outside my "office" (bedroom) window, and
gave 5 or 6 more flight calls while perched. I thought that was cool.

-----------

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

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[nfc-l] The nocturnal flight call of the Barn Swallow

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, All.

(Nice night flight in the 1am hour this morning, Friday, Sept. 3, over
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado. First good push of presumed
Orange-crowned Warblers, which migrate much earlier in fall in Colorado
than in, say, Ithaca, New York. Wilson's Warblers continuing, too, and
Chipping Sparrows--presumably mostly juveniles now. Anyhow...)

===

As I think a lot of us know, Barn Swallows give an amazing variety of
vocalizations while on the wing. They can sound like Solitary
Sandpipers, they can sound like Scarlet Tanagers, they can sound like
House Finches, they can sound like Lark Buntings, they can sound like
Bullock's Orioles, and on and on and on.

At least here in Colorado, Barn Swallows fly by night and are
exceedingly vocal. Unquestionably, I hear far more Barn Swallows by
night in Colorado than any other bird species, from mid-July into early
September. These are birds high overhead, calling almost constantly. In
mid-July, I assume these are mainly or entirely local birds just
socializing at night. The Barn Swallow just happens to be an especially
active night-calling passerine. (Other passerines that are vocal by
night on the breeding grounds in Colorado include Cordilleran
Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, Sage Thrasher, Yellow-breasted Chat,
and Cassin's Sparrow.)

Broadly speaking, then, the following statement from the Evans & O'Brien
CD-ROM needs to be updated: "Primarily a diurnal migrant. May migrate at
night in spring in the Gulf of Mexico region. Flight calls are given
regularly by perched and flying birds during the day. Not known to give
flight calls at night." Again, and just to beat a dead horse, I hear
more nocturnal flight calls from Barn Swallows than from any other bird
species.

But what about the more nuanced question of Barn Swallows on active
nocturnal migration? First, do they migrate by night? And, second, if
so, what do they sound like?

Well, I've been wondering about that a fair bit. Given that Barn
Swallows are flying around at night anyhow, often quite high up, and
well away from roosts and nest sites (e.g., high above lakes and pine
forests), mightn't they also be nocturnal migrants?

So here's my hypothesis. The flight call given by Barn Swallows on
active nocturnal migration seems to be what Evans and O'Brien call the
"vwit" call. That is the call I hear from birds that I judge to be
moving north to south on nights when other expected species are on
nocturnal migration. It's a rising flight call, with 3 or more "bands."
If you have the Evans and O'Brien CD-ROM, it's this one: Flight
Calls\SPECIES\SWALLOWS\BARS\BASWVAR.HTM

The problem is, Barn Swallows make me nervous, ID-wise. Is the Barn
Swallow's "vwit" call distinguishable from the flight calls of Bobolink
(presumably a rare migrant where I listen), Bullock's Oriole (common
migrant here, but most movement appears to be diurnal), Lark Bunting
(distinctive flight call, but, I swear, some sound like Barn Swallows!)
or even House Finch (notoriously variable, and who's to say they don't
move at night?). I'm not so sure. But here's what I can say: Barn
Swallows are extremely vocal, on the wing, at night, at least in
Colorado, and that's a broad pattern, something I've noticed all across
the region; their "vwit" call is certainly one I hear a lot of; and it
seems to be the call of birds on active nocturnal migration; but we need
to be aware of (at least, I need to be aware of!) the possibility of
confusion with other birds with rising, multi-banded,
fairly-low-frequency flight calls.

In other words, next time you think you're hearing orioles or Bobolinks
or Lark Buntings or something, be aware of the possibility of Barn
Swallows, certainly on the wing by night, and quite possibly in the act
of active nocturnal migration.

---

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

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[nfc-l] Dawn flights, onward migration, & a cautionary note

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Night-Listeners.

I had an experience earlier today that made me realize that one of my
long-held assumptions about "dawn flights" hasn't been right.

In Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, there was a very heavy (by our
Western standards) dawn flight of warblers and sparrows during the half
hour of civil twilight this morning, Monday, August 25th--easily 500+
flight calls heard, for a rate of 1,000+ per hour. Again, that's a very
good flight for Colorado.

Now, my assumption would have been that this dawn flight would have been
preceded by a good night flight.

But that's not what happened. During the preceding period of
astronomical twilight, I heard only a single flight call--that of a
Wilson's Warbler. (An aside: Wilson's Warbler is far and away the most
abundant migrant warbler--often outnumbering all other warblers
combined--in the Front Range region in late August and early September.)

Here's what I think happened. During astronomical twilight, there were
moderate southerly winds aloft, evidenced by the uniform movement of the
low cloud ceiling relative to the barely visible glow of the moon.
That's no good if you're a southbound migrant. But there was absolutely
no wind at the surface at least up to the treetops. That's nice, but
with the cloud cover, there was no light during astronomical
twilight--so it wouldn't have been good for visually oriented birds
moving at or below the level of the treetops.

During civil twilight, however, the birds could see, so they got up and
went. It was fascinating to actually see them--MacGillivray's Warblers
and juvenile Chipping Sparrows, for example--in sustained flight 10-25
feet above street level in my residential neighborhood. Judging by all
the calling, I would say the flight continued until about 90 minutes
after sunrise. The flight was extremely low to the ground; I think these
birds were circumventing the southerly winds aloft by "flying under the
radar," so to speak, where winds were calm, and thus favorable for
migration.

I wouldn't say this dawn flight was a case of "onward migration,"
because that implies the birds had been migrating by night. I don't
think that happened. I think the southerly winds aloft prevented it. But
once they could see, the got up and migrated in the calm conditions near
the surface.

Or maybe I'm full of crap. In any event, it was cool to witness a very
heavy dawn flight but without any "precursor" in the form a nocturnal
flight.

---

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

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[nfc-l] What are folks hearing & recording?

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Birders.

Out here in the Front Range region of Colorado, we're at the peak now of
detectable "fall" landbird migration. Seems like the peak period runs
from around August 20th till around September 10th. And things sure do
drop off fast after September 10th, it seems--right around the time the
first big thrush flights are noted Back East.

For what it's worth, here's a summary of what I've heard thus far this
"fall" at Greenlee Preserve, Boulder County, Colorado. I've listened on
20 nights from July 17th through August 24th. Each night that I'm out, I
listen (and sometimes make recordings) for at least 15 minutes between
midnight and the beginning of nautical dawn. An asterisk before a
species' name means the identification is tentative, provisional,
uncertain, or otherwise problematic. Here goes:

Species, followed by number of nights on which heard (n=20 nights total)

1. Passerines presumed to be on nocturnal migration.

*Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 3
*MacGillivray's Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 4
*Northern Waterthrush  1
Chipping Sparrow 16
*Brewer's Sparrow 5
Lark Sparrow 3
*Lark Bunting 5
*Black-headed Grosbeak 1   
*Western Meadowlark 1
*Bullock's Oriole 1

2. Shorebirds (and a heron) presumed to be migrating.

Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Semipalmated Plover 1
Solitary Sandpiper 3
Upland Sandpiper 2
Least Sandpiper 2
Baird's Sandpiper 2

3. Species presumed not to be on active migration.

Canada Goose 9
Mallard 10
Great Blue Heron 3
American Coot 8
Sora 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2
Barn Owl 5
Greater Horned Owl 4
Barn Swallow 16
American Robin 3
European Starling 3
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 1

Comment: Note that fully 2/3 (8 out of 12) of the species in list 1 are
indicated by an asterisk. What can I say?--we're still learning the
basics Out West.

-------

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

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RE: [nfc-l] flight call to identify

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Assuming it's a "flight call" (I'm thinking functional), it sounds and
"looks" (spectrographically) good for Le Conte's Sparrow. The flight
call is thin, slightly descending, very high pitched, and double banded.
That's all a good match to Le Conte's Sparrow's flight call.

But just to ask a stupid question, why isn't this an alarm call of an
American Robin? That's an awfully variable vocalization, I realize, but
I've heard some that are just like this one.

Is there's a chance the microphone picked up a robin in a tree, freaked
out by a raccoon or something? Or is this definitely a bird flying over?

Anyhow, my vote, for what that's worth, is Le Conte's Sparrow. But I
wonder about a non-FlightCall vocalization of American Robin, too.

Best,
Ted






-Original Message-
From: bounce-6141374-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6141374-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Andrew
Farnsworth
Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2010 3:53 PM
To: NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: [nfc-l] flight call to identify

Good afternoon all,
I'd like to solicit comments from the community on this flight call,
recorded on approximately 5AM on 17 October 2009 just south of Ithaca,
NY, USA.  What is the identity of the caller?  Several colleagues and I
have a likely candidate, but I'd like to hear additional opinions.

Once I get some feedback, I'll post the comments and discussion, and
provide some additional background.

Regards,
Andrew

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[nfc-l] First nocturnal-migrant Chipping Sparrow, July 19th

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Birders.

Here's something I posted to BirdChat a few days ago. Thought it might
be of interest to this group.

All best, 
Ted Floyd

==

Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:24:22 -0700
Sender:   "National Birding Hotline Cooperative (Chat Line)"
From:     Ted Floyd <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:  The most wonderful day of the year

It's a birder thing. Really, it's a human thing.
 
We mark the passing of the seasons by certain milestones, by the
proverbial first robin of spring. Who among us hasn't thrilled to Aldo
Leopold's essay, "The Geese Return"? (Here it is:
http://tinyurl.com/2caupns.)
 
On a cold, bright morning, we see the first robin on the sidewalk; on
the night of a warm thaw, we hear the geese returning; in October, we
step outside and delight in the crispness of the first fall frost.
 
Those things are universal: robins, geese, fall frosts, and so forth.
 
Many of us, I think, have our own private emblems to mark the passing of
the seaons. Over the years, Pete Dunne has shared several in his many
writings. When I was a kid, I adored (and darned-near memorized) Dunne's
essay, "Death of a Season," which tells of a southbound Short-billed
Dowitcher at Cape May and how its appearance marked the end of summer. A
few years later, in his New York Times column "In the Natural State,"
Dunne had a wonderful essay on the Louisiana Waterthrush, whose return
each year marks the final proof of spring.
 
Earlier today, Monday, July 19th, I witnessed one such harbinger of a
new season. The encounter lasted 75 milliseconds (about 1/13th of a
second). It happened under cover of darkness. I'm nearly certain that no
other human being witnessed it. I'd been waiting for it, and I knew it
would happen, but I couldn't say when.
 
At 3:59 a.m., under skies clear enough--even in the suburbs northwest of
Denver--to see the Milky Way and the Galaxy in Andromeda--I heard the
unmistakable, piercing flight call of a Chipping Sparrow. That sound is
the essence of what most attracts me to birding and indeed to nature
study: The nocturnal flight call of the Chipping Sparrow is the
embodiment of mystery, wonder, drama, and serendipity. It is the call of
one of the most ordinary of birds, and yet the call signifies something
at the frontiers of human knowledge and understanding.
 
Chipping Sparrows do not breed where I live. I was hearing a nocturnal
migrant flying from its breeding grounds in the nearby Rocky Mountains
to its molting grounds out on the plains of eastern Colorado and western
Kansas. Until very recently, only a tiny handful of birders had any clue
that Chipping Sparrows go east to molt. There's an eminently valid
reason for that cluelessness: The birds are way out on the plains, holed
up in dense vegetation, hiding and molting. It's 100+ degrees out there.
It's brutal. And the only reason to be out there, according to the
conventional wisdom, is to look for migrating shorebirds or perhaps to
work on your Breeding Bird Atlas block. You're out on the mudflats,
working through a big flock of peeps, and one of them is decidedly
"interesting"; off in the distance, in the weeds, the cochleae in your
ears detect a 75-millisecond, 7,000-hertz flight call. Your brain says,
"Fuhgeddaboutit."
 
Even if you're in on the secret, molting Chipping Sparrows are hard to
find. By day, there are so many distractions: sputtering kingbirds, and
the protests of a killdeer; a fritillary to look at, and peeps to
ponder; a nearby tractor, and the distant din of trucks on the
interstate. The Chipping Sparrows are hiding, molting; they don't even
want to be seen. And it's so danged hot.
 
At night, it's a different story. It's quiet. There's nothing to see,
save the stars. Then you hear it: a piercing "seen?" A few millipascals
of sound "energy" reach your ears, and it's over in less than a tenth of
a second. But it was unmistakable. This bird wanted to be heard; that's
the whole purpose of its nocturnal flight call. Chipping Sparrows
migrating by night are as conspicuous as they are inconspicuous during
the day.
 
The great invisible passage of midsummer molt-migrants in underway.
 
Some folks have commented to me that they find it peculiar that I get
such a kick out of something so esoteric. All I can say is that it's not
esoteric for me. Not at all. For me, hearing the first nocturnal flight
call of the Chipping Sparrow is a jump-for-joy,
pump-your-fist-in-the-air moment. The call comes out of nowhere. It
elicits heartfelt wonder, and nothing else. Something remarkable,
something wonderful, is going on up there; you're in on the secret, and
you're giddy with delight. It's the most wonderful day of the year.
 
---

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

--- 

RE: [nfc-l] Night flight call station results-Maine-April 1-3

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.
 
Random comment. A friend of mine says that Caspian Tern is one of the
most characteristic night sounds where he lives in the Puget Sound area
of northwest Washington. He hears them well from waterways, for what
that's worth. Dunno if it's migration, or local birds moving around, or
what; but, at least, the birds are vocal and on the go at night in that
part of the continent.
 
Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
 
 
 
 



From: bounce-5534317-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-5534317-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Jeff Wells
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 2:09 PM
To: Michael O'Brien
Cc: NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: RE: [nfc-l] Night flight call station results-Maine-April 1-3



Very cool! Makes sense when you see large numbers of robins flying over
in the early morning hours that they would be birds that have been
moving at night. Funny though that over the years I don't recall picking
up any within the 10 PM-2 AM window that I think of as indicating birds
moving through the night as opposed to in the early morning hours when
it is not as clear whether they just started migrating or are
descending.

 

Speaking of birds that move through the night but are not as readily
detected, have any of you picked up terns other than Caspian Tern
migrating at night? It's obvious that they migrate at night based on the
way they just appear one morning in a location but it seems like you
don't hear them. Though at least Caspian Terns in the fall when they
have still-dependent young regularly call back and forth with the
trailing young birds at night.

 

Jeff

 

 

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RE: [nfc-l] Night flight call station results-Maine-April 1-3

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.
 
I ponder this question a lot. In all my experience in Colorado, I have
heard exactly one (1) flight call from a robin that seemed to be an
on-the-go nocturnal migrant. (For comparison, I've heard more flight
calls from nocturnal-migrant Western Grebes and Eastern Kingbirds in
Colorado.) I've flushed a lot of robins by night, but that doesn't
really count.
 
In Boulder County, Colorado, then, I'd say that robins are practically
silent as nocturnal migrants, or they simply do not migrate by night. I
frequently see (and hear) heavy, medium-altitude robin passages that go
strong right to around sundown, but then the flights suddenly end at
nightfall.
 
Daytime "Vis Mig" of American Robins is striking (visual and audible) in
the Front Range region of Colorado, comparable to the heavy daytime
flights of Common Grackles in early spring.
 
Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
 



From: bounce-5534264-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-5534264-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Michael
O'Brien
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 1:59 PM
To: Jeff Wells
Cc: NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] Night flight call station results-Maine-April 1-3


Jeff, 

I'm interested in your assertion that American Robin is strictly a
diurnal migrant. Perhaps that is true in some areas, but in Cape May it
certainly is not. We regularly see massive American Robin flights at
night, in fall at least. These flights often continue or resume in the
first few hours of the morning and again in the last hour or so of the
day. During particularly heavy flights, the movements may continue
longer into the day, but my estimation is that the bulk of the movement
always takes place at night. I find their behavior to be much like that
of Bobolink, only they seem to be less vocal. It would be interesting to
know what others have observed and if the situation is different
elsewhere. My guess is that the main difference, if any, is that robins
call more frequently in certain situations and fly more quietly in
others. 

good listening!
Michael O'Brien


- Original Message -
From: "Jeff Wells" 
To: NFC-L@cornell.edu
Sent: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 2:42:45 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [nfc-l] Night flight call station results-Maine-April 1-3



I started my automated recording station for the season here in Maine on
Thursday night, April 1st. Although there were few calls each of the
last three nights, the numbers increased a little each night from about
10 the night of the 1st to about 30 last night. There were a few Hermit
Thrushes the first night, 6 the 2nd and 12 the night of the 3rd. There
were a few Killdeer each night, a Wood Duck, and 4-10 sparrows each
night with Song and White-throat plus a couple that may be American Tree
Sparrow and a junco or two. A few other items of interest: 

 

-several nights had Herring Gull calls in the middle of the night that I
assume are night migrating birds;

 

-several nights had the squeal flight calls of American Robins around
midnight. Although I sometimes have what I assume to be local
on-the-ground robins sing and give ground alarm calls in the middle of
the night, they don't give the squeal calls. The acoustics of the
recorded squeal calls also seem more like birds overhead. I suspect
that, as unlikely as it seems, that these were night-flying robins when
by all accounts the species is only a diurnal migrant;

 

-one night I had what sounded like a bit of song of a night-flying
Hermit Thrush. I typically get some night-flying birds in May that break
out in song or partial song while flying overhead but I had never picked
that up for Hermit Thrush.

 

I posted some of the call files on my blog at: www.borealbirds.org/blog

 

Jeff Wells

 

 


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[nfc-l] Audio resources for Old World nocturnal migrants

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Everybody.
 
The basic reference for Europe, as far as I am aware, is the 2-CD set,
"Out of the Blue: Flight Calls of Migrants and Vagrants." It's by Arnoud
van den Berg, Mark Constantine, Magnus Robb, and The Sound Approach
(2003).
 
Magnus, you out there? Do you want to say anything specific about this?
All I can say, from my rather distant perspective, is that I've greatly
enjoyed listening to the recordings on "Out of the Blue." Next time I
hear a Lesser Short-toed Lark on nocturnal migration over central
Colorado, I'll be prepared...
 
-------

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

--- 

 
 
 


From: bounce-5467410-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-5467410-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Tayler
Brooks
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 3:58 PM
To: nfc-l@cornell.edu
Subject: [nfc-l] Audio resources for Old World nocturnal migrants


Hello all, 

Plainly out of curiosity, I'm wondering what types of resources are
available 
to those who are interested in learning more about NFCs of European
migratory 
passerines.  Are there any recording sets that would be recommendable,
or 
literature (with spectrograms?) as well?  

Thank you and happy spring migration,

~Tayler Brooks

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[nfc-l] Presentations on "nocturnal ornithology"

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Say, I'll be talking about "nocturnal ornithology" at the 18th annual
Massachusetts Birders Meeting, sponsored by Mass Audubon, this coming
Saturday, March 6th. Here are abstracts for the entire program:
http://www.massaudubon.org/PDF/birders_meeting/2010/abstracts.pdf. Maybe
see a few of you up there?

And, then, the following week, I'm giving a similar presentation *at a
casino*. Who'da thunk? Details, sorta: http://tiny.cc/Vzurj

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado






-------

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

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RE: [nfc-l] Bobolink flight in NE Florida

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.
 
Thanks to Matt Hafner for these great observations from Florida.
 
> Has anyone else heard a large predawn flight with such a lack  
> of diversity?  Most of my listening has been inland in the
mid-Atlantic  
> and while I've had plenty of thrush-dominated mornings, I've never  
> had a single species compose so much of the calls.   
 
Gimme a few months, please, and I'll be able to post a quantitative
summary for July-November for Boulder County, Colorado, 2007-2009.
 
In late July and early August, when we have decent flights (30+ flight
calls per hour), they are dominated by Chipping Sparrows. I'd say
80-100% of the flight calls are given by Chipping Sparrows on those
nights with decent flights; by mid-August, diversity increases. These
lateJuly/earlyAugust flights are full-on, sustained, middle-of-the-night
flights of birds on active nocturnal migration. (Cf. ongoing discussion
about the definition of night; and "old-timers" may recall that we
discussed zugunruhe vis-a-vis actual nocturnal migration, way back in
the old days of August 2009!)
 
Here's something to ponder. I'm certain that warbler/sparrow calls are
going to be more than 90% of all flight calls, in the final analysis
here in Colorado. Probably more than 95% of all flight calls. The total
number of thrush calls is going to be less than 1%, and perhaps down
around 0.1%.
 
In contrast, y'all Back East have experiences like this: thousands of
thrushes; a decent smattering of grosbeaks, tanagers, and Bobolinks; and
1 or 2 sparrow notes. (There have been several such postings to NFC-L in
the past month; seriously, *one or two* sparrow/warbler flight calls
amid literally thousands of flight calls of larger species.) Here in
Colorado, again, the warbler/sparrow notes are dominant, overwhelmingly
so.
 
I've been out most nights the past 2 weeks, and I've heard absolutely
nothing but warblers and sparrows. The IDs are provisional, but most
seem to be Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers, plus Chipping,
White-crowned, and Lincoln's Sparrows. Mainly presumed Yellow-rumps and
White-crowns. Believe me, if I heard a thrush or Bobolink, or just a
wimpy Western Tanager, I'd jump out of my pants.
 
Best,
Ted
 
Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
 
P.s. I'm talking about fall in Colorado. In spring, we get Swainson's
Thrushes, Bobolinks, grosbeaks, buntings, all that good stuff.

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[nfc-l] Nocturnal flight call of the Western Grebe

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Since we've been on the topic of the nocturnal flight calls of grebes...

At 5:15 this morning (i.e., well before sunrise), Saturday, Sept. 26th,
I heard a Western Grebe giving the typical "advertising call" ("cree
creeE!") from out on the surface of Waneka Lake, Boulder County,
Colorado. Then I heard a little bit of splashing, and the bird took off.
It flew right toward me, giving just the first syllable ("cree") about
once every three seconds. It made a broad circle above where I was
standing, evidently gaining altitude, still calling at about once every
three seconds. Then it flew off to the northwest, still giving the same
"cree" call, audible, I would guess, up to at least 1/2 mile away in the
quiet night sky. 

Well, it was a grebe of known identity, and it was night, and the bird
was calling. I guess that makes this the nocturnal flight call of the
Western Grebe!

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Editor, Birding

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[nfc-l] Strong night flight over Boulder County, Colorado, Sept. 10th

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Well, it was strong by our standards. ~250 flight calls per hour, with
most birds seemingly high up--but nicely audible--in the clear,
perfectly calm night sky. (Winds had been light and northwesterly at
sundown.) Nearly all were warblers and sparrows. No thrushes, but
several presumed Western Tanagers and a presumed Black-headed Grosbeak.

Location: Greenlee Preserve, Boulder County, Colorado. (Northwest of
Denver.) Date: pre-dawn, Thurs., Sept. 10th.

Details, if you're interested, at the COBirds list: http://tiny.cc/lzrFx




All best,
Ted Floyd

tfl...@aba.org

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

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[nfc-l] Brief recap of workshop: "Frontiers of Field Ornithology: Nocturnal Migration in the West"

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Nathan Pieplow and I just wrapped up our ABA IFO (Institute for Field
Ornithology) workshop on nocturnal migration in the West, visiting
various sites in Colorado. Despite a basically southerly windflow during
the entirety of the workshop, we nonetheless had some nice nights
afield. Workshop participants heard zero Catharus thrushes, but we did
hear a lot of sparrows and warblers. (Corey Husic, I'll trade you a few
of our Chipping Sparrows and Wilson's Warblers for a few thousand of
your thrushes.)

Micro-highlights from the workshop: http://twitter.com/NightBirding

Click on the links to get daily trip reports.

All the best,
Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado







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[nfc-l] Moonwatch question

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, Mike et al.

Well, I gave it a whirl last night, Thursday, Sept. 3rd, around 9pm
Mountain Daylight Time. (Location: Lafayette, eastern Boulder County,
Colorado.)

In less than 2 seconds, a passerine flew across the disk of the moon;
sweet. But then I had an unexpected complication. The next object to
transit the moon was a bat. Then another bat (or the same one). Then a
large moth.

I should think that, given distant and fleeting views of such animals,
there's the potential to over-count birds by accidentally counting bats
and moths. Any pearls of wisdom on this one?

Thanks,
Ted

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Editor, Birding

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[nfc-l] On the apparent complete absence of Swainson's Thrushes in the Interior West

[Ted Floyd]

Ah. Colby has brought up the strange case of the missing Swainson's
Thrushes: 
 
> Interestingly, ZERO Swainson's Thrushes were heard.  Interestingly, in
all my nights  
> listening (a couple dozen) in Utah, I never heard a Hermit or
Swainson's Thrush in either  
> the spring or fall.  I don't know what these birds do between the
Cascades/Sierras and  
> the Continental Divide given my experiences thus far as I'm certainly
quite baffled at this  
> point...


It's interesting, isn't it? In their recent monograph on the birds of
western Colorado, Bob Righter et al. state the following for Swainson's
Thrush: "Even during spring and fall migration, rarely found outside of
breeding habitat, suggesting that most birds migrate through the
mountains and mountain valleys." Coen Dexter, one of the coauthors of
that monograph, put it even more dramatically to me (personal
communication in front of 100+ folks when I was doing Q at a public
talk; insert frowney-face here): There do not appear to be any credible
records in western Colorado away from mountains and mountain valleys.
Conversely, if you go east of the Divide, you can see 100+ per day on
spring migration in Colorado.
 
Anecdotally, that was my impression back in my Nevada days. Swainson's
Thrush is common as dirt in the broadleaf forests of, say, the Ruby
Mountains (northeastern Nevada). But it was notable enough in the
lowlands for us to put it on the hotline. And those lowland records
tended to be from the far west (Reno area) and south (Las Vegas area). I
wonder if they were mainly Russet-backed (Pacific slope) birds, not
Olive-backed (everywhere else) birds.
 
Best, --Ted Floyd
 
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
 
 
 
 
 
 

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[nfc-l] Nocturnal migration, Boulder County, Colorado, Aug. 23-25

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, all.

1. With light north-northeast winds and decent cloud cover, the pre-dawn
night flight earlier today, Tuesday, Aug. 25th, over Lafayette, Boulder
County, Colorado, was the best thus far this season. (There's something
special about the exact date of Aug. 25th here in Boulder County.)
Anyhow, details at http://tiny.cc/r13NJ

2. Detectable nocturnal migration over Boulder County was light Aug.
23rd and 24th. Basically, just the core species for this time of year:
Wilson's Warbler, presumed Brewer's Sparrow, and dwindling numbers of
Chipping Sparrows. And a cool Red-breasted Nuthatch. Details:
http://tiny.cc/ojbox

3. Just out of curiosity, anybody got good, credible flight calls of
MacGillivray's Warbler? That one has me somewhat flummoxed, I haveta
say.

4. Recent postings from Jay Withgott and Jim Danzenbaker. Great stuff!
And, now, for a brief proclamation from my soapbox. I assume that with
nocturnal flight calls, as with seemingly all other matters
ornithological, we shouldn't think of the phenomenon in simple
"East-vs.-West" terms. Our continent has a fundamental three-part
division, at least ornithologically speaking: (1) East and North; (2)
Interior West; and (3) Pacific Slope. Not that anyone around here has
been guilty of declaring otherwise! But I figured I'd nip it in the bud,
just in case.

All best, 
Ted Floyd (still waiting for just a single, stinkin' Catharus thrush...)

-------

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

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RE: [nfc-l] Night Flight, Catron County, New Mexico 18-19 August 2009

[Ted Floyd]

Good stuff, Andrew!

A few things:

1. "Ted's clips" of Brewer's Sparrows are actually Nathan Pieplow's.

2. Interesting to compare Andrew's observations in Catron County, NM,
with observations from "up north" in Colorado. Pretty convergent, on the
whole, I would say.

3. Andrew says "presumed" Bullock's Oriole. Yeah, no kidding. It's got a
nasty suite of flight calls, some of which approach (overlap with?)
Western Meadowlark. By and large, I do not hear (presumed) Bullock's on
nocturnal migration in Colorado. Then again, Bullock's is our
molt-migration poster-child, with migrants dispersing before the summer
solstice! My impression is that they wander the Colorado grasslands
during the hot daytime hours in June and July. But by mid-August, and
down in New Mexico, they may be doing more of the nighttime thing.

4. Western Tanager. That's another nasty one. A few years ago, Will
Russell alerted me to a variant that is basically indistinguishable from
Swainson's Thrush. Also, the WesternTanager/BlackHeadedGrosbeak nexus is
nasty.

Best,
Ted

P.s. Good dawn flight audible outside my window right now. Spizellas.




-Original Message-
From: bounce-4189561-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-4189561-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Andrew
Farnsworth
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 4:46 PM
To: nfc-l@cornell.edu
Subject: [nfc-l] Night Flight, Catron County, New Mexico 18-19 August
2009

Hi all,
I was in western New Mexico for a brief but eventful visit from 17-19
August 2009.  The birding highlight was almost certainly (large Pinyon
Jay flocks is a close top highlight too) the nice nocturnal flights on
the evening of 18 August continuing into the morning of 19 August near
Quemado, NM in the high desert at approximately 7,200 ft.  Conditions
were suprisingly calm, and amazingly clear.  At times in the hours just
before sunrise, and before civil twilight, I was hearing 3-4 calls per
minute.  Most of the species composition was spizellid, with many
Chipping Sparrows and presumed Brewer's Sparrow (based on previous
recordings that I've reviewed from my own diurnal collections, Ted's
clips, and those diurnal recordings that Lanzone and I made in spring
2005 in AZ).  Also moving in the nocturnal flight were Wilson's Warbler,
Yellow Warbler, Lark Sparrow, Western Tanager, presumed Bullock's
Oriole, Passerina bunting and a suite of unidentified 5+ kHz calls that
were probably emberizids.  There was also a small, visible morning
flight, including Bullock's Oriole (two birds giving flight calls) and
many sparrows, including decent numbers (50-60 per hour) of Brewer's
Sparrows (many birds giving flight calls).  This flight also included a
nice movement of hummingbirds, including numerous Broad-tailed and
Rufous Hummingbirds (no birds, not surprisingly, giving flight calls).

Best,
Andrew

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[nfc-l] Nocturnal migration, Boulder County, Colorado, Aug. 20th

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, all.

With a general northerly windflow continuing, there was again a decent
push of nocturnal migrants over Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado,
earlier today, Thursday, Aug. 20th. (30 miles northwest of Denver.) It
was clear overnight, with just some thin, high haze. Birds sounded
higher up than 2 nights ago, when it was partly cloudy and substantially
hazy. Lots of birds "on the ground" (or near the ground) at sunrise,
especially Brewer's and Vesper Sparrows--combination of fallout and
"dawn flight." Thus, I imagine the flight was actually better last night
than what I detected; i.e., I missed some birds too high up to hear.

We're getting into the peak time of year for both diversity of flight
calls and intensity of nocturnal migration. Here in the Front Range
region of northern Colorado, I'd call that period Aug. 20th through
Sept. 15th. The few truly heavy (EastCoast-style) flights we've had have
been concentrated entirely in the period Aug. 25th-Sept. 1st
(2006-2008). Wonder if that will pan out this year...

Details on last night's flight available here: http://tiny.cc/UPGaT

Brief highlights, as usual, available here:
http://twitter.com/NightBirding

-------

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

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[nfc-l] Night Flight, Boulder County, Colorado, Aug. 18th

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Conditions were perfect: After an interminable southerly windflow, winds
shifted to northerly yesterday afternoon. During the nighttime hours, it
got calm, with haze, partial cloud cover, and even decent humidity (at
least, by our western standards). Thus, there was the best flight of the
season to date in the 4am and early 5am hour. 

Date: Aug. 18th, 2009. Location: Greenlee Preserve, Boulder County,
Colorado. (Northwest of Denver.)

Details at COBirds: http://tiny.cc/47WoT

Also, for anyone who's interested, I've set up a twitter site devoted
mainly to birding at night: http://twitter.com/NightBirding

All best, 
Ted Floyd

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[nfc-l] Newspaper article on the subtle nuances of nocturnal migration

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

There's a decent--quite decent, all things considered--article in
yesterday's Daily Camera (Boulder, Colorado, newspaper). Topics covered:

--Nocturnal flight calls of Yellow Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, and Lark
Sparrow
--Sex differences in vocalizations of Mallard and Great Horned Owl
--Night-singing in local resident (not migrating) Barn Swallows
--Migratory sleeplessness in Swainson's Thrush and White-crowned Sparrow
--Effects of weather on the detectability of nocturnal flight calls
--Facultative molt-migration by passerines in the Interior West (!)

Not bad...

Here's an online version of the article. Dunno how much longer it will
be up there:

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/aug/12/prentice-migrants-and-meteor
s-make-early-morning-n/ 

--Ted



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RE: [nfc-l] NFCs in Caroline

[Ted Floyd]

 

 > Glad to see you guys out west are catching up with us. ;.) 


We've got a ways to go, that's for sure. 

 

We've got a ways to go, that's for sure. 

 

And that's the fun part. We're at the super-steep part of the learning
curve right now. Each night out is a learning experience.

 

FYI, I'm giving a talk at WFO (y'all don't have any comparable
organization Back East) next month on the different assumptions,
methods, biases, results, etc. between East and West flight-call stuff.
Obviously, y'all are the pioneers, the trend-setters. And it's really
interesting to be learning what Eastern stuff "works" Out West, and what
doesn't.

 

All the best, --Ted

 

Ted Floyd

tfl...@aba.org

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado 

 

 


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RE: [nfc-l] NFCs in Caroline

[Ted Floyd]

And last night was just about our *slowest* thus far this season...  :-(
 
Eight field trip participants (yes, we really do nocturnal migration
field trips in Colorado...) heard no migrants at all between 4:15 and
5:00 a.m. MDT, Wednesday, 12 August 2009. Location: Greenlee Preserve,
Boulder County, Colorado. (A little flock of Chipping Sparrows pulsed
over at 5:22; not sure if they were wrapping up overnight migration, or
just getting going in the dawn's early light, or what.) A south wind
overnight was surely to blame. Nice meteors, by the way, despite the
moon. Brief trip report at 
http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/COLO.html#1250080203
 
The "day" before, Tuesday, 11 August 2009, was a little better, with no
wind to speak of overnight. Along with Chipping Sparrows, there was one
of those birds that I think is a Brewer's Sparrow. Despite what I might
have expected a few years ago, Brewer's Sparrow flight calls are
distinct from those of Chipping Sparrows. See attached, 2 sonograms.
Note the distinct "double banding," even triple-banding, plus a
less-symmetrical "upward arch" (sensu Evans & O'Brien); there's more of
a terminal upslur and an introductory downslur. (Sonograms by Nathan
Pieplow, recorded in Colorado.)
 
Back on Sunday, 9 August, my son and I were down in southeastern
Colorado, and "several" (might have been more like "a lot of"--hard to
know) Upland Sandpipers migrated over La Junta, Otero County, in the
middle of the night. The species is considered to be unexpected there,
but maybe migrants are missed. After all, they are expected in fall
migration SSW of La Junta, in New Mexico (or at least they were, when I
lived there 15 years ago), and La Junta lies on a line between there and
the breeding grounds. For additional context, winds were out of the
northeast, with lowering clouds.
 
Meanwhile, south winds are forecast to continue here indefinitely. Well,
when they finally relent, I imagine we'll have a fine few nights of
listening.
 
Best,
Ted
 
 



From: bounce-4164608-9667...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-4164608-9667...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Michael
Lanzone

Hi Steve and others,

Last night I think was the best we have had here yet this season, at
least one of our mics was recording 5-10 calls per minute. Early not a
lot though as we had some showers in the area, it picked up later around
11:30pm or so. I am anxious to check our ridge station (on Laurel Mtn)
as radar was ~25dBz there and that often gets a lot more activity than
here with these conditions. It will have to wait till I get back from
AOU though :(


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[nfc-l] Article in Science on wind turbines and migratory bats

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.
 
There's a sobering article in the 24 July 2009 issue of Science on the
effects of wind turbines on migratory bats. Here are the specs:
 
  Curry, A. 2009. Deadly flights. Science 325:386-387.
 
Here's one result that particularly interested me: "A study out last
summer showed that many [bats] are killed not by collisions with turbine
blades, but by barotrauma, fatal bubbles or ruptures in bats' lungs and
hearts caused by the low-pressure zones the massive blades create in
their wake."
 
This result brought to mind Bill Evan's proposal (WOS/AFO meeting in
Pittsburgh earlier in the year) to remotely monitor bird strikes at wind
turbines. According to the bat research, anyhow, it's not just the
turbine blade per se that is fatal; the air space in the vicinity of the
blade may be just as deadly.
 
Best, --Ted
 
P.s. With southwest winds over Lafayette, eastern Boulder County,
Colorado, earlier this morning, Wednesday, August 5, there were no
nocturnal migrants aloft. (Two days earlier, though, August 3rd, there
was another strong push of Chipping Sparrows dumping onto the plains,
plus a few Yellow Warblers.)
-------

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Editor, Birding

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[nfc-l] Nocturnal migration, August 1st, Boulder County, Colorado

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

Well!--It's early August, the start of the "high season" out here in
Colorado.

This morning, my dad and I listened for 20 minutes, starting at 0405
MDT, at Greenlee Preserve, Lafayette, eastern Boulder County, Colorado.
Winds were light out of the north, and it was getting cloudy. We heard
at least 13 Chipping Sparrow flight calls and 2 Yellow Warblers.

All best, --Ted







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Editor, Birding

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[nfc-l] Good night flight, eastern Boulder County, Colorado, July 30th

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

No zugunruhe here...  :-)

It was the real deal here in eastern Boulder County earlier this
morning, Thursday, July 30th. Between 3:30 and 4:00, I heard the
following flight calls: 1 Yellow Warbler, 28 Chipping Sparrows, 2 Lark
Sparrows, and 1 Lark Bunting. Of special interest was an Upland
Sandpiper (basically accidental in the county) that called 5 times as it
flew over.

Only Yellow Warbler breeds onsite. (Onsite = Greenlee Preserve in the
city of Lafayette.) Besides, it was a solid hour before first light, so
these weren't birds stirring at dawn. They were up there, going places.

Conditions were perfect for the Upland Sandpiper and Lark Bunting
(although not, I wouldn't have thought, for the Chipping Sparrows coming
out of the mountains): light NNE winds, low cloud ceiling, light rain
earlier in the evening.

---

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Editor, Birding

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RE: [nfc-l] NFCs in Caroline

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

First, a request:

> Hello,
> Over the past several weeks I've been working on developing 
> a new nocturnal flight call recording setup at my house in 
> the town of Caroline. 

Where the heck is Caroline? Is it in Indiana? In Chihuahua? Not all of
us live in the Cayuga Basin, y'know...  :-)

> Anyway, it is my sense that passerine migration has begun 
> in a big way, and it is not too early to listen.

Here in Colorado, we're getting the first push of known or suspected
molt-migrants doing the nocturnal migration thing. Pre-dawn yesterday
morning (August 26th), for example, I heard Chipping Sparrows and a Lark
Bunting moving over Lafayette, just northwest of Denver. These birds are
not local breeders in eastern Boulder County, where I am based.
(Chipping Sparrows breed in the mountains, to the west; Lark Buntings
breed farther east, on the plains.) Both species are complete or partial
molt-migrants here in Colorado. (Depends on a lot of things, like rain.
Molt-migration, although probably much more pervasive than many folks
realize, nonetheless has a strong facultative component to it. It's not
a black-and-white dichotomy.)

Lark Sparrows and Yellow Warblers should be up there in the mix, too,
any night now.

These birds are the real deal, dispersing (whether or not to molting
grounds, doesn't really matter) through the nighttime hours. Not
zugunruhe, I would say.

(Neat zugunruhe anecdote from northwestern Colorado, if I may. If you go
to the broadleaf river valleys--the valleys are 7,000 feet--in the third
week of June, you hear constant singing from Veeries, Swainson's
Thrushes, and Yellow Warblers. By the 2nd week of July, there is
virtually no singing, but the dense woodlands are constantly abuzz with
the flight calls of those 3 species. Birds bail out of the mountains
early, early, early. Especially in dry years.)

Best,
Ted

Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

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[nfc-l] Free ABA workshop: One (1) spot left

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, nocturnal flight call enthusiasts. Anybody wanna grab up the last
spot in this free workshop? Come learn how we do it in the West!--no
"easy" thrushes, grosbeaks, tanagers, cuckoos, or anything like that.
It's all sparrows and warblers, basically...  All best, --Ted





_
 
There is space for one (1) more participant in a birding workshop that
is being 
offered for free to members of the American Birding Association in
September of 
this year. In a nutshell: Based out of Boulder, Colorado, we'll be
listening to 
nocturnal migrants, we'll learn how to identify some of them by their
flight 
calls, we'll make sound recordings and study sonograms, and we'll talk
about 
applications of flight call monitoring to avian conservation. 

Full details at:
 
http://aba.org/ifo/workshops/2009nocturnal.html
 
Ted Floyd
tedfloyd57 AT hotmail.com
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
 
-------
 
Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding
 
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Re:[nfc-l] still migrants (and others)

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.
 
Out here in Boulder County, Colorado (northwest of Denver, where the
Rockies meet the Plains), we had our last good push of Swainson's
Thrushes on Wednesday morning, June 3rd. In the 3am hour, they were
migrating over at about 30 per hour.
 
Best, --Ted
 
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Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

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<http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=884482>  to search the internet.

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Please visit the website of the American Birding Association:
http://www.aba.org <http://www.aba.org/>  

 
 
 
 Original Message  
Subject:still migrants (and others) 
Date:   Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:32:25 -0400 
From:   Steve Kelling  <mailto:s...@cornell.edu>  
To: Marshall J. Iliff  <mailto:mil...@aol.com> ,
Andrew Farnsworth 
<mailto:andrew.farnswo...@gmail.com> , Wood 
<mailto:cl...@cornell.edu> , Kenneth V Rosenberg 
<mailto:k...@cornell.edu> , Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes
 <mailto:c...@cornell.edu>


Hi,
Last night I recorded a Swainson's Thrush around 10 PM. I also got 
Virginia Rail, Ovenbird display, and Alder Flycatcher.
(attached)

steve


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=
Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes
TARU Product Line Manager and Field Applications Engineer
Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850
Voice: 607-254-2418, FAX: 607-254-2460
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp mailto:c...@cornell.edu
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[nfc-l] Recent night flights over Boulder County, Colorado

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

The past several nights have been fairly good for hearing nocturnal
migrants over eastern Boulder County, Colorado. Boulder County is 25
miles northwest of Denver. The western half of the county lies in the
Rocky Mountains, and the eastern half is out on the plains. So Boulder
County is on the great divide between East and West. For sure, the
phenomenon of nocturnal migration in Boulder County is very different
from what I think of as the "standard model" in the Midwest and East.

Here are several recent summaries of mine, posted to the COBirds
(Colorado) birding list:

http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds/browse_thread/thread/19aac4f409b4
501b#

http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds/browse_thread/thread/14df778ccd49
8d33#

http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds/browse_thread/thread/1a3f9e53831b
1641#

Ted Floyd
tfl...@aba.org
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

-------

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

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http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=884482 to search the internet.

Every search provides support to the ABA's programs in Education,
Conservation, and Publications.

Please visit the website of the American Birding Association:
http://www.aba.org



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