Hi Martyn,
Recorded last year in the Galapagos (where I finished a soundscape
CD), and in and around the Rio Napo on the eastern side of the Andes.
The latter was more disappointing because of habitat incursion
(deforestation mostly oil drilling) and because so much of the
dynamic equilibrium of the critter mix has been greatly compromised.
So it is VERY difficult to find places where the biophonic indicators
do not reveal themselves as seriously stressed. Last year I found
none despite marching way off into the jungle alone. While recording
is possible, the results are not convincing. Most obvious, the
monkeys were gone (poached), as well as other four-legged critters
for the same reason. And a pall of smoke lies over the canopy each
morning as more and more forest is slashed and burned. Not a hopeful
scenario. For those who wish more insight into the problem in
Ecuador, read "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins.
Bernie Krause
>Paul
>
>Where in Ecuador are you?
>I have an assignment to record there next year......
>
>Martyn
>
>****************************************
>Martyn Stewart
>Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
>http://www.naturesound.org
>Redmond. Washington. USA
>N47.65543 W121.98428
>
>e-mail:
>Tel: 425-898-0462
>
>Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!
>*****************************************
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:
> On Behalf Of Paul Coopmans
>Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 3:47 PM
>To:
>Subject: RE: [Nature Recordists] Ethics of Using Recordings on Wildlife an=
d
>a bit about the tropics
>
>At 12:19 29-10-05 -0700, you wrote:
>>
>>Another note, how many people here are actually NATURE RECORDISTS?
>>I see many posts of "what the latest recorder, microphone is" but how man=
y
>>actually tell of their experiences in the field?
>
>
>OK Martyn,
>
>Just a few words then about the field experiences. I've been tape recordin=
g
>bird sounds for nearly 20 years now, mainly in South America, but I've als=
o
>done a bit in Africa and Australia.
>
>When faced with an unknown bird sound in tropical forests, playback is the
>best method to identify the source of the sound. In this way other people
>and I have been able to get 'the first recording' of many species which
>were previously poorly known, and thanks to learning the sound these
>species have subsequently been found in other areas, improving our
>knowledge about their distribution. Better distributional knowledge
>translates into a better knowledge base on which to base conservation
>decisions and strategies.
>
>You can not imagine the thrill of playing back an unknown sound and
>suddenly being face to face with a mythical bird which until then was only
>known from a few old specimens. With an increased knowledge on the bird
>sounds (tape recording is an ideal way of learning) one can also more
>quickly pick up anything odd. This is how in the early nineties I
>discovered a new flycatcher in Ecuador, which we subsequently described as
>Foothill Elaenia.
>
>In the course of the past decade we have - thanks to John Moore who has
>also been doing a lot of recording and who headed the project - been able
>to publish a series of CD-sets on Ecuadorian bird sounds, an endeavor whic=
h
>was only possible thanks to many years in the field by the various
>co-authors, many hours processing the recordings, and all of the above.
>
>Re. playback by birders, one has to use common sense. If all of a sudden
>loads of ABA listers would flock down to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker area
>in Arkansas and start playing tapes this could have a severe impact. If
>instead you're talking about much smaller numbers of birders in a country
>like Ecuador where - in spite of worrying degrees of deforestation - there
>is still a lot of habitat to bird, people are usually so dispersed, doing
>playback on different territorial birds, so that IMHO the impact on the
>birds in negligeable. Yes there is the odd place where one territorial bir=
d
>repeatedly gets exposed to tape, and what seems to happen is that, rather
>than deserting its territory, the bird just becomes oblivious to the tape,
>probably having learnt that there's nothing to worry about.
>
>It is also worth stating that many birds here are year-round territorial,
>and that they regularly get exposed to young birds (or old ones driven out
>of their territory by chainsaws) who are roaming around looking for a
>territory, and as soon as one of these starts singing the territory owner
>will come in to drive the intruder away. Many times I have watched
>territorial conflicts, and occasional and non-exaggerated playback is
>nothing more than yet another floating intruder having a go at establishin=
g
>a territory.
>
>We're running a conservation foundation here, the Mindo Cloudforest
>Foundation, and we have so far been able to establish two reserves in an
>increasingly deforested area thanks to the generous donations received fro=
m
>some birders whom we've shown lots of birds, some of them with playback.
>The birds are still there in spite of the playback, but the habitat in
>which they live is now protected thanks to these birders.
>
>Cheers, Paul
>
>
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
--
Wild Sanctuary
P. O. Box 536
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
t. 707-996-6677
f. 707-996-0280
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
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