...and on top, the sound is sync! (If not, it's the best dubbing I have eve=
r
heard.)
Klas.
of thatAt 08:20 2003-12-01 +1000, you wrote:
>
>Hello Naturerecordists,
>
>Vicki Powys has drawn my attention to a Klas Strandberg message in which h=
e
>wrote:
>
>> When I got the DVD with the Lyrebird, I almost wrote to the producer and
>> asked him why he had set the audio level so low. I'm happy I didn't....
>>
>> (If you want to see and HEAR something fascinating!! - get in touch with=
Syd
>> and he will guide you how to get it. Syd, where are you??)
>>
>
>Thank you Vicki. Thank you Klas.
>
>Being technically inept and knowing nothing of DVD, I deleted your message
>without reading to the end, Klas. I apologise.
>
>For anyone whose curiosity may have been aroused, Klas is referring to a
>truly remarkable film of an Albert Lyrebird, made by Glen Threlfo, the
>naturalist at O'Reilly's Guest House, in Lamington National Park
>(Australia). O'Reilly's have produced and sell it as either a video
>cassette or a DVD disc.
>
>The DVD is open region, and the video is available either as VHS or whatev=
er
>version it is you use in the United States. They can be bought from the
>shop at O'Reilly's - and only from there. The email address is:
>
>
>
>Apart from the beauty of the bird and the virtuosity of his vocal
>performance, the film is remarkable for two things:
>
>=80 the achievement of filming at all, a species so extremely shy; and
>
>=80 to see a wild bird accompanying his song with a musical instrument.
>
>
>"Rhythm sticks", I hasten to explain, form the musical instrument.
>
>Superb Lyrebirds, which have been extensively filmed, clear an area 3 or 4
>feet in diameter (a metre or more across) and mound up the earth on which =
to
>sing and display. Albert's Lyrebirds use a largely natural situation,
>reasonably common in their rainforest habitat, where several thin vines
>and/or sticks lying loosely on the ground, form a platform for their
>performance. If the vines are dry, knocking one against another produces =
a
>tapping sound.
>
> Lyrebirds are famous for their mimicry, but their own songs are also
>remarkable. One we have called the "Gronking Song", because of the loud
>"gronk gronk" notes. But between the gronks there are phrases of very sof=
t,
>rhythmical notes. In the film (and with all Lamington lyrebirds in fact),
>the rhythm is waltz time - three beats to a bar. But in various other
>areas, I have tape-recorded two, four and five beats to a bar. (Lyrebirds
>learn to sing by copying other lyrebirds, so all individuals in any
>particular locality use the same gronking song rhythm.)
>
>In the film, the bird can be seen positioning himself on the vines, and
>testing them prior to his gronking song. Then he grasps one vine with his
>foot and deliberately taps it on the one beneath to produce an audible sou=
nd
>in perfect time with the soft rhythmic notes of his voice.
>
>The Albert's Lyrebird was described as a species in 1851, but it was not
>until 1972, that the nature of the display platform was described in the
>ornithological literature. They are so shy that it is extremely difficult
>to approach anywhere near to one that is singing. Their loud territorial
>song can be heard a mile away, but well before you get anywhere near the
>singing bird, he sees you and disappears.
>
>The same shyness no doubt accounts for another aspect of the song not bein=
g
>recognised for over 100 years - that the mimicry is used in fixed order to
>produce a stereotyped song about 40 to 50 seconds long, which may be cycle=
d
>over over and over. Again all the males in the one area used the same
>mimicry cycle.
>
>I will add below, one more tribute to the shyness of the species from my o=
wn
>experience, but this is already getting too long so I should explain that
>Glen Threlfo at O'Reilly's spent literally years getting one individual
>gradually accustomed to his presence. Eventually he was able to build a
>hide without the bird deserting his display platform, and the filming coul=
d
>begin.
>
>"George", as Glen calls him, will now tolerate someone approaching
>cautiously, and you can watch his performance. And in case anyone reading
>this should visit Australia, I should add that the lyrebird breeding seaso=
n
>is in the Oz winter, approx. May to early August. At other times of the
>year you may be able to see "George" but he won't be performing. And a
>further note of caution: we reckon he is now about 30 years old. No-one
>knows how long an Albert's Lyrebird lives, so no-one can predict how long
>George will continue to delight O'Reilly's guests.
>
>But the video/DVD is available.
>
>Cheers
>
>Syd
>
>(BTW, I have no commercial interest in O'Reilly's - just a fond hope of
>taping George's song every breeding season from now on, for so long as he
>and I both remain active.)
>
>___________________________________________
>
>I think it was in 1970, that having found the nature of the Albert's
>Lyrebird display platform, I decided to try to photograph the display. (A=
t
>that stage no photo had ever been taken of an adult Albert's lyrebird in t=
he
>wild.) I built a hide near one of the bird's most used platforms. He
>immediately deserted that platform.
>
>I found another of his platforms which was about 10 yards/metres from a
>large Eucalyptus grandis tree, a species that sheds all its outer bark
>annually in long strips, and also sheds a lot of dead branches. I made a
>minimum sized hide against the base of the tree and covered it with branch=
es
>and bark to look like a natural heap of debris. This the bird accepted.
>
>I had a single flash mounted on a stick near the platform with bark draped
>over it to look reasonably natural. Still camera with telephoto lens, and=
a
>heavy cable to charge the flash from a motor-cycle battery. These days on=
e
>might get by without a flash using a digital camera, but natural lighting
>was quite inadequate for the film available to me 30 years ago.
>
>The bird performs. The flash goes off. He momentarily pauses, then
>continues. I think I took about five or six shots before he noticed where
>the flash was coming from. He's staring right at it. I couldn't resist a=
nd
>took another shot. HE WAS GONE IN A FLASH! (pun intended!) So that was t=
he
>end of that. I clearly was not going to get any more photos. I packed up
>and left, taking the flash, but luckily (and it was just luck, not
>deliberate) leaving the stick and draped bark.
>
>Two weeks later, I come back to change the tape on some auto-record gear,
>and to my surprise and delight, he's back performing at that same platform=
.
>Set up the gear, and this time there's no trouble. I can fire the flash a=
s
>often as I like and he simply ignores it.
>
> Clearly what happened was this. He knew his surroundings so well that wh=
en
>the flash drew his attention to the stick and draped bark, he knew it had
>not been there before. It was doing something - the flash - so he was not
>taking any chances and departed immediately. But when he found that it wa=
s
>always there, never moved, he was satisfied it was harmless and could be
>ignored.
>
>Gives you an idea of just what Glen has achieved in getting "George", to
>accept him.
>
>S
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
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>
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