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2nd annual recordists campout, Lafarge WI

Subject: 2nd annual recordists campout, Lafarge WI
From: "Rich Peet" <>
Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 17:52:07 -0000
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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