I just joined this afternoon and look forward to learning from the
recording experiences of this wonderful group. I'm a bird ecologist
at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where we're developing a
web site to help test and improve the expertise of bird field
investigators - both hired workers and volunteers. We haven't
completed the audio portion yet, but here's a link to the main site:
http://www.uwgb.edu/birds/certification/index-1.htm. (The test
recordings are old mono clips - not the ones we will be using for
the "real" tests.) This summer we'll be collecting ambient multi-
directional bird recordings from a variety of locations, including
national parks and wildlife refuges in the eastern U.S. I've acquired
fairly good stereo recordings in the past using two CZM microphones
from River Forks Technology and a Marantz PMD 670 digital recorder.
The 2 microphones cost about $2,400 (for the pair). I'm wondering
if we couldn't get comparable recordings for lower price. Do any of
you have advice? The recordings need to pick up representative
samples of bird choruses, comparable to the sounds that might be
encountered by a field observer conducting a bird point count. The
recordings don't have to be perfect, but obviously the more reach and
realism the better. What do you think?
Bob Howe
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