Re: [nfc-l] Catharus thrushes in weird places

2017-11-10 Thread Magnus Robb 
Hello Olivier, 

I accept that to more experienced NA ears the Swiss call does not sit 
comfortably with Swainson’s Thrush. Bill Evans told me it ends at a frequency 
that would make it atypical for the species, and some clear modulation would 
also be desirable. 

However, the Chaffinch call you are referring to is not a flight call but a 
breeding season call used in a songlike manner. I’ve never heard it after the 
summer. The two flight calls of Chaffinch are a low, soft, rapidly descending 
‘puw’ and a loud, bright ‘pink’, especially when flying alone. 

I also hear finches at night now and then, but of the genus Fringilla i’ve 
heard Brambling a few times and almost never Chaffinch despite Brambling being 
much less common. Other night finches here include European Goldfinch and, this 
year in particular, Hawfinch.

Best,

Magnus


> On 10 Nov 2017, at 02:22, Olivier Barden  wrote:
> 
> Magnus,
> 
> The Swiss recording does not sound like a Swainson's Thrush to me, other than 
> superficially. The spectrographic signature of this call doesn't look right, 
> either. Could this simply be a Chaffinch? Its quite low-pitched, and there 
> seems to be a bit of echo. I rarely hear finches at night in North 
> America--they are for the most part diurnal migrants, like Chaffinch--but it 
> happens. Compare with this recording: http://www.xeno-canto.org/381677
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Olivier Barden
> Quebec, Canada
> 
>> On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 5:52 AM, Magnus Robb  wrote:
>> I like the idea of a detector for Catharus thrushes on Scilly! But there are 
>> two places perhaps better qualified than that. This year saw three records 
>> in Cork, southwest Ireland and just one on Scilly. But the ‘European’ 
>> capital for North American vagrants is now Corvo in the Azores (actually 
>> it’s on the North American side of the mid-Atlantic ridge!). Have a look at 
>> this list of what was found there this autumn.
>> 
>> http://birdingcorvo2013.blogspot.pt
>> 
>> Talking of Catharus thrushes in unexpected places, I’d be interested to know 
>> what North Americans make of this. I was surfing around on Xeno-canto the 
>> other day and I came across this mystery NFC recorded by Thomas Lüthi (CC) 
>> in his garden in Switzerland in September 2015. To me it sounds like a 
>> Swainson’s Thrush, and I can’t think of anything European that comes this 
>> close. How does it sound to people with real experience of this species? I 
>> only know the NFC of Swainson’s from recordings.
>> 
>> http://www.xeno-canto.org/386520
>> 
>> all the best,
>> 
>> Magnus Robb
>> 
>> 
>> > On 09 Nov 2017, at 00:08:26, Ted Floyd  wrote:
>> >
>> > Sure looks (and sounds) like it to me. I think you can even rule out 
>> > Bicknell's, haha.
>> >
>> > As you say, it is exciting. This brings up something I've been meaning to 
>> > propose: Given how many Gray-cheeked and Swainson's thrushes are actually 
>> > seen in Britain, it occurs to me that it might be cool to put up a 
>> > detector on the Isles of Scilly pointing out toward the ocean. Especially 
>> > near a light, if there is one. We all know the truism that you can hear 
>> > more Gray-cheeks in an hour than you might see in a lifetime. If that 
>> > applies to thrushes excitedly approaching the British Isles, imagine how 
>> > many thrushes you might detect that way.
>> >
>> > Best, --Ted
>> >
>> > Ted Floyd
>> > Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
>> >
>> > ===
>> >
>> > 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 Wed, Nov 8, 2017 at 3:09 PM, Debbie Leick  wrote:
>> > Hey folks,
>> > Could this be anything other than a Gray-cheeked Thrush? We get many 
>> > Swainson's Thrush but this is so different. Recorded in Victor, MT, 
>> > 9/14/17, ~5:45am. It would be a first for us since we began monitoring in 
>> > 2012. Also, I could not find any records of GCTH west of the Montana 
>> > continental divide in either eBird or the MT Natural Heritage Program 
>> > database. So if it is, a very exciting record for us!
>> > Thanks in advance for any guidance!
>> > Debbie
>> >
>> > --
>> > NFC-L List Info:
>> > Welcome and Basics
>> > Rules and Information
>> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
>> > Archives:
>> > The Mail Archive
>> > Surfbirds
>> > Birding.ABA.Org
>> > Please submit your observations to eBird!
>> > --
>> >
>> > --
>> > NFC-L List Info:
>> > Welcome and Basics
>> > Rules and Information
>> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
>> > Archives:
>> > The Mail Archive
>> > Surfbirds
>> > Birding.ABA.Org
>> > Please submit your observations to eBird!
>> > --
>> 
>> 
>> --
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>> 
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Re: [nfc-l] Catharus thrushes in weird places

2017-11-09 Thread Olivier Barden 
Magnus,

The Swiss recording does not sound like a Swainson's Thrush to me, other
than superficially. The spectrographic signature of this call doesn't look
right, either. Could this simply be a Chaffinch? Its quite low-pitched, and
there seems to be a bit of echo. I rarely hear finches at night in North
America--they are for the most part diurnal migrants, like Chaffinch--but
it happens. Compare with this recording: http://www.xeno-canto.org/381677

Regards,

Olivier Barden
Quebec, Canada

On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 5:52 AM, Magnus Robb  wrote:

> I like the idea of a detector for Catharus thrushes on Scilly! But there
> are two places perhaps better qualified than that. This year saw three
> records in Cork, southwest Ireland and just one on Scilly. But the
> ‘European’ capital for North American vagrants is now Corvo in the Azores
> (actually it’s on the North American side of the mid-Atlantic ridge!). Have
> a look at this list of what was found there this autumn.
>
> http://birdingcorvo2013.blogspot.pt
>
> Talking of Catharus thrushes in unexpected places, I’d be interested to
> know what North Americans make of this. I was surfing around on Xeno-canto
> the other day and I came across this mystery NFC recorded by Thomas Lüthi
> (CC) in his garden in Switzerland in September 2015. To me it sounds like a
> Swainson’s Thrush, and I can’t think of anything European that comes this
> close. How does it sound to people with real experience of this species? I
> only know the NFC of Swainson’s from recordings.
>
> http://www.xeno-canto.org/386520
>
> all the best,
>
> Magnus Robb
>
>
> > On 09 Nov 2017, at 00:08:26, Ted Floyd  wrote:
> >
> > Sure looks (and sounds) like it to me. I think you can even rule out
> Bicknell's, haha.
> >
> > As you say, it is exciting. This brings up something I've been meaning
> to propose: Given how many Gray-cheeked and Swainson's thrushes are
> actually seen in Britain, it occurs to me that it might be cool to put up a
> detector on the Isles of Scilly pointing out toward the ocean. Especially
> near a light, if there is one. We all know the truism that you can hear
> more Gray-cheeks in an hour than you might see in a lifetime. If that
> applies to thrushes excitedly approaching the British Isles, imagine how
> many thrushes you might detect that way.
> >
> > Best, --Ted
> >
> > Ted Floyd
> > Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
> >
> > ===
> >
> > 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 Wed, Nov 8, 2017 at 3:09 PM, Debbie Leick 
> wrote:
> > Hey folks,
> > Could this be anything other than a Gray-cheeked Thrush? We get many
> Swainson's Thrush but this is so different. Recorded in Victor, MT,
> 9/14/17, ~5:45am. It would be a first for us since we began monitoring in
> 2012. Also, I could not find any records of GCTH west of the Montana
> continental divide in either eBird or the MT Natural Heritage Program
> database. So if it is, a very exciting record for us!
> > Thanks in advance for any guidance!
> > Debbie
> >
> > --
> > NFC-L List Info:
> > Welcome and Basics
> > Rules and Information
> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
> > Archives:
> > The Mail Archive
> > Surfbirds
> > Birding.ABA.Org
> > Please submit your observations to eBird!
> > --
> >
> > --
> > NFC-L List Info:
> > Welcome and Basics
> > Rules and Information
> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
> > Archives:
> > The Mail Archive
> > Surfbirds
> > Birding.ABA.Org
> > Please submit your observations to eBird!
> > --
>
>
> --
> NFC-L List Info:
>
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>
> Please submit your observations to eBird! � http://ebird.org/content/
> ebird/
> --
>
>

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Re: [nfc-l] Catharus thrushes in weird places

2017-11-09 Thread Olivier Barden 
Magnus,

The Swiss recording does not sound like a Swainson's Thrush to me, other
than superficially. The spectrographic signature of this call doesn't look
right, either. Could this simply be a Chaffinch? Its quite low-pitched, and
there seems to be a bit of echo. I rarely hear finches at night in North
America--they are for the most part diurnal migrants, like Chaffinch--but
it happens. Compare with this recording: http://www.xeno-canto.org/381677

Regards,

Olivier Barden
Quebec, Canada

On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 5:52 AM, Magnus Robb  wrote:

> I like the idea of a detector for Catharus thrushes on Scilly! But there
> are two places perhaps better qualified than that. This year saw three
> records in Cork, southwest Ireland and just one on Scilly. But the
> ‘European’ capital for North American vagrants is now Corvo in the Azores
> (actually it’s on the North American side of the mid-Atlantic ridge!). Have
> a look at this list of what was found there this autumn.
>
> http://birdingcorvo2013.blogspot.pt
>
> Talking of Catharus thrushes in unexpected places, I’d be interested to
> know what North Americans make of this. I was surfing around on Xeno-canto
> the other day and I came across this mystery NFC recorded by Thomas Lüthi
> (CC) in his garden in Switzerland in September 2015. To me it sounds like a
> Swainson’s Thrush, and I can’t think of anything European that comes this
> close. How does it sound to people with real experience of this species? I
> only know the NFC of Swainson’s from recordings.
>
> http://www.xeno-canto.org/386520
>
> all the best,
>
> Magnus Robb
>
>
> > On 09 Nov 2017, at 00:08:26, Ted Floyd  wrote:
> >
> > Sure looks (and sounds) like it to me. I think you can even rule out
> Bicknell's, haha.
> >
> > As you say, it is exciting. This brings up something I've been meaning
> to propose: Given how many Gray-cheeked and Swainson's thrushes are
> actually seen in Britain, it occurs to me that it might be cool to put up a
> detector on the Isles of Scilly pointing out toward the ocean. Especially
> near a light, if there is one. We all know the truism that you can hear
> more Gray-cheeks in an hour than you might see in a lifetime. If that
> applies to thrushes excitedly approaching the British Isles, imagine how
> many thrushes you might detect that way.
> >
> > Best, --Ted
> >
> > Ted Floyd
> > Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
> >
> > ===
> >
> > 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 Wed, Nov 8, 2017 at 3:09 PM, Debbie Leick 
> wrote:
> > Hey folks,
> > Could this be anything other than a Gray-cheeked Thrush? We get many
> Swainson's Thrush but this is so different. Recorded in Victor, MT,
> 9/14/17, ~5:45am. It would be a first for us since we began monitoring in
> 2012. Also, I could not find any records of GCTH west of the Montana
> continental divide in either eBird or the MT Natural Heritage Program
> database. So if it is, a very exciting record for us!
> > Thanks in advance for any guidance!
> > Debbie
> >
> > --
> > NFC-L List Info:
> > Welcome and Basics
> > Rules and Information
> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
> > Archives:
> > The Mail Archive
> > Surfbirds
> > Birding.ABA.Org
> > Please submit your observations to eBird!
> > --
> >
> > --
> > NFC-L List Info:
> > Welcome and Basics
> > Rules and Information
> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
> > Archives:
> > The Mail Archive
> > Surfbirds
> > Birding.ABA.Org
> > Please submit your observations to eBird!
> > --
>
>
> --
> 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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