As a teacher of bird language, one of the things I am trying to record is i=
nteractions between people and humans. I come to nature recording from the=
bird and bushcraft side, and consistently see people's eyes and ears open =
as they realize the impact of their behavior in the woods. "You mean that =
song sparrow was feeding calmly until I came along? What kind of noise am =
I making and how can I reduce it?" I see groups of kids go from rambunctio=
us to respectful listeners when we point out the birds (and point out that =
the best way to avoid a hungry cougar is to listen for alarming birds). =
Nature recording has been a way for me to capture stories: Here is the peac=
eful meadow edge, with feeding and singing birds. Now listen for the alarm=
calls and the silence...and right on cue, the jogger comes down the trail.=
Footsteps recede into the distance again, and the birds return. Or, to t=
ake a recent example, here is the stealthy nature recordist, sneaking throu=
gh the forest towards the owls while a winter wren sings in the background.=
..And here is that nature recordist leaping in panic as she steps in a yell=
owjacket nest, while the winter wren starts alarming vociferously at her! =
I get my students to sit outside for long stretches of time to listen "in t=
he flesh", but having scenarios captive as sound reduces the learning curve=
. One of the best recordings in my slide show is of juncos alarming. I as=
k people to listen for what is perturbing the juncos, and they all feel ver=
y proud of themselves when they finally hear the jingling dog tags. The st=
ories in sound intrigue people, and help them realize the concentric rings =
of disturbance they emit. For this reason I try to include recognizable hu=
man sounds in my recordings when appropriate, and not to censor a recording=
with a plane overhead if the sounds still tell a viable story. I love a n=
o-humans-in-earshot recording as much as the next person, but I am not goin=
g to stop recording at my house even if there is traffic in the background.=
Even if I never get a professional quality squeaky-clean recording from m=
y backyard, I am sure out there having fun. My ulterior motive is to help =
people be aware of EVERY sound, and consequently more inclined to reduce un=
necessary anthropogenic ones.
Chirp,
Alexia Stevens
Bird language teacher
Woodinville, Washington
www.WildernessAwareness.org
|