Boidnoise

Chipping sparrows migrate through the foothills on the way to higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada.  On the morning of April 17, 20007 I heard what I took to be an insect of some kind, but it turned out to be a sparrow perched on the top of a young oak tree with his head and wide open bill pointed at the sky broadcasting the following enthusiastically.

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What do I consider to be

Upper Bridgeport SP ??

Black phoebes are flycatchers that prefer the presence of water.  They will be seen perched either high or low, dart out after an insect, and often return to the same perch.  With their toxedo clad appearance they are easy to recognize and their high pitched “ptee” call is hard to miss.  Note that this bird alternated each call ending with first an upslur and the next call with a downslur.  April 17, 2007

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recorded with a Zoom H2 (see Equipment header above) which was set up on a tripod near my feeder which is stocked with black sunflower seeds year round.  This little snippet was lifted from a long recording.  The feeder has a steady stream of birds coming to it, and often there is a “line” and like people, some try to take “cuts” and feathers get ruffled.

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these files demonstrate the extreme variability, variations on a theme, and mimicry of the California thrasher.  The first files was recorded in the afternoon of March 8, 2008 in the chaparral on the top of Wolf Mountain, southwest of Grass Valley, California.  It is 7:30 minutes long and the bird averages 3 phrases per minute.

At 1:36 the bird mimics an oak titmouse, at 3:55 a scrub jay and at 4:09 an oak titmouse again, this time very clearly.

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In this recording in the same area, another bird mimics a blue-gray gnatcatcher between 0:21-0:23, and a scrub jay at 1:10-1:12 a scrub jay.

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This is another phrase from the first bird.  In this I think I hear phrases from lesser goldfinch, scrub jay, and blue-gray gnatcatcher, but my ears are worn out right now and I could be dreaming.

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Recorded on Apr 19, 2006 early in the morning at Pajaro Dunes, CA.

This is the typical “witchety, witchety, witchety” call of the common yellowthroat.  Photography by Walt Carnahan of Sierra Foohills Audubon Society.

equipment: Telinga dish, Marantz PMD-671, twin science microphone

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This flock of evening grosbeaks was recorded on Sunday morning Oct. 5, 2008 at Prosser Reservoir east of Truckee, California.  Sunny morning after two days of rain, and a cool 40 degrees.  The birds were flying between treetops and were very active.  At 51 seconds many of them take off in a great whir of wings and move on.

equipment: Sound Devices 722, Telinga dish, twin science microphone

cast of characters: evening grosbeaks, mountain quail, Steller’s jay, mountain chickadee, Brewer’s blackbird

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Not long after I started recording this flock the apparently obligatory EXPLETIVE motorcycles started arriving as they do most any place one tries to record.  It was 0845 on a beautiful Sunday morning.  Clueless bunch, for whom nature only exists to roar through, making as much noise as possible.  This is what it sounds like.

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Recorded a little after 0700 on Sept. 24, 2008 at Loon Lake in the Sierra Nevada.  The sun had just touched the tops of the pines and flocks of 10-15 red crossbills were very active flying back and forth high in the treetops.  On this recording the call of the crossbills is the strong “cheep cheep” one hears at the beginning.  Towards the end the wind comes up and can be heard in the tree tops.

Cast of characters:

red crossbills, mountain chickadees, Stellar’s jay, pine siskins, red-breasted nuthatches and mallards on the lake

Equipment: Sound Devices 722 with Telinga dish and twin science microphone

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This file is from the same location, a little bit later, and has more of a “songlike” quality.

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Telinga dish with twin science microphone.  Trill of a dark-eyed junco in the spring.  Recorded on Banner Mountain near Nevada City, California.

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Telinga dish with twin science microphone.  Calls and song of house finch on Banner Mountain near Nevada City, California.

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Telinga dish with twin science microphone.  Recorded in Colfax, California area, on a ridgetop in the spring, with distant traffic noise from Interstate 80.

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