Second annual recordists campout,
8 active recordists
First arrivals were on Thursday PM to get things ready.
A sunny and warm start.
We once again got the keys to Star Valley which insured semi private
access to a wonderful area.
Initial survey of the breeding birds and frogs showed great
diversity with most of the passing migrants having already passed.
The frogs were about 30 days ahead of typical seasons.
Thursday evening we took up an offer by a local DNR employee to
record the whip-poor-wills on his land and possible coyotes that
often call to the towns 10:00 PM curfew siren. The whip-poor-wills
were great but the coyotes did not call. We secured some rare
asynch calls of the whip-poor-wills that were generated from three
birds calling from the same territory.
Thursday night we camped in the valley with the first sprinkles of
rain being about midnight.
The rain grew.
Friday dawn rose to the songs of birds with cloud to ground strikes
lighting up the valley.
Friday PM we were still recording singing birds with thunder.
Friday afternoon also brought the first dangerous encounter with
hail, wind, and torrent rain while setting up a 100 yard array. We
were lucky with the heaviest hail passing a mile north of the array
minimizing the number of head on hail encounters by the woods
workers.
By Friday night it was clear that the campground had to be abandoned
due to complete saturation of the land by water. It was the editing
cabin that saved the weekend. With a couple participants delayed in
arrival by the rain, fog, and low cloud ceiling we were able to find
sleeping accommodations for all.
Editing class Friday night often made us wonder if the thunder was
in the recording or just outside.
By Saturday morning the Flash Flood warnings were out. One more
storm cell and the valley would flood completely. Much damage by
run off and saturation had already been done with some local roads
closed. Luck was with us in the valley and Saturday afternoon
cleared for us to be in the woods. Not dry but in the woods.
Saturday night was more editing, frog recordings, and swamp
stomping. Oh yes, did I mention the rain and thunder?
Sunday dawn was brought to us with more wind and rain followed by
rain without wind. So back to the editing for a little more time on
technique and methods.
Sunday afternoon was found with more wet recordists down with the
frogs in the valley. Not to mention a little rain.
The trips home brought stories about flooded roads, tornados, and
yes, more heavy rain.
A good time was had by all and we managed to not have one injury or
water lost recorder. I did however have to read the last rights to
my minivan which has served as a bed and breakfast for the last
200,000 miles and many recording trips.
We will try and post some sounds soon.
Rich Peet, scr (Swamp Certified Recordist)
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