A special treat for Michael Fish and Martyn Stewart... Also my way to
apologize for a previous posting that was supposed to be about a choir
of Starlings, and turned out to be, at best, a mixed band of Sparrows
and Starlings.
This Sunday afternoon, I drove 100 km under the rain to reach what I was
told was a huge roost of Starlings. And... I was not disappointed ! At
about 4pm, they started to arrive by groups of 100 to perhaps 500 or
600. Some from high in the sky, most flying very low over the fields.
Two ornithologists who visited the site in the previous days thought
they were probably about 200,000. I am not good at such estimations, but
I would easily agree with that number.
I carefully entered the pine grove, just under the first trees, and the
scenery was just incredible : most tree branches covered with birds,
just like Christmas trees. The level of noise was astounding.
Here are just a few samples, Mike and Martyn : http://www.pca.be/samples
!
Unfortunately, the weather conditions were not good : strong wind and
continuous rain. Also, a nearby main road and the regular passage of
aircrafts made it difficult to record for more than a few seconds
without any human-made noise. But I would say that the bird noise was
covering the traffic noise, and not the other way around !
About my Portadisc...
Unfortunately, I had to stop after 45 minutes, as my Portadisc stopped
functioning properly : it was probably hit by rain (even though I had it
protected with its original HHB bag). The display was stuck on the Input
menu. It would only change momentarily when I pressed another button,
but it would go back to the Input menu as soon as I released the button.
Also, the buttons Mark, System, and Setup started to go wild : they just
gave me menus that were not theirs, or they would start playing the MD !
The 2 Record and Pause LEDs would not turn on anymore.
Now, about 5 hours after I brought it back to room temperature, the
recorder appears to be back to normal. I know for sure I'll be more
careful next time I record under the rain !
The Telinga behaved perfectly under the rain. Of course, I had it
covered with its wind shield, and I had a plastic bag around the handle.
So, the mic was well protected. Only problem : you can hear the rain
drops on the parabola.
Dominique Laloux
> the recent thread on starlings was of particular interest to
> me, as my home city, bradford, was for many years host to
> millions of those wonderful birds. the local council managed
> to all but eradicate them during the 70s and 80s, but many of
> us still remember the amazing sight of swirling clouds of
> birds coming in to roost each evening, darkening the whole
> sky. a sad loss to the city, although i'm sure many would
> disagree. for some reason, folk didn't like to have all the
> buildings streaked with bird droppings :o) anyway. at least i
> still have starlings roosting in the eaves of my house,
> apparently raising generations there. something very warm and
> pleasant about waking each day to their friendly sounds.
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