I had a rare opportunity this past Sunday evening at dusk ,to record
a Whip-poor-will at close range calling on it's territory, from the
edge of a wooded area overlooking a large field in Webster, NY. Other
birders were at the location, and enjoying Am. Woodcock courtship
display, and waiting for the already reported nightjar, to call. I
made a number of recordings and uploaded the ones with the least
amount of people and vehicle noise to the Freesound Project website
in my sample pack titled "spring 2008".
The wind was gusting at 15-25mph during the day, but calmed enough to
make the recordings. The first link is mono and is at :
http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=53416
The Whip-poor-will then flew to the far end of the woods with it's
continuous calls much fainter, and I decided to try the dish for a
longer distance recording. It wasn't nessesary as the bird moved
again to a tree right next to the parking area I was standing in. I
was fortunate to get this recording before a couple shined a bright
spot light on the bird, and it moved again. The link is at :
http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=53415
Not much stereo sound, but at least a focused recording with the
dish. Some wind noise can be heard in a spot during the recording,
giving underwater type sound effects which I've noticed before with
my setup. I'm thinking that some fake fur tied around the foam
windscreens on the binuaral mics might help (?). The noise might also
be created by the wind hitting the aluminum dish, itself. As always,
opinions or comments are certainly appreciated.
Regards,
Bill
|