Folks,
About a month ago, I was making a shoreline recording at a sheltered
bay on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The place is called Pebble
Beach, the location for most of the classic photos of Split Rock
Lighthouse, an historic Minnesota icon.
Here's my own version of the classic/cliche photo, taken last summer:
http://www.trackseventeen.com/images/DSCF3552_2.jpg
Here's another view of the bay, taken the day of my recording last
month, from shore off the left side of the photo above:
http://www.trackseventeen.com/images/DSCF4695_2.jpg
While I was recording, a smallish bird of prey swooped into view and
landed in a tree branch about 20 feet above my mic rig. It perched
there for a minute or so, then flew down and landed on the pebbles
about 20 feet in front of my mics. I didn't have binoculars with me,
so I don't have much detail to work with. This bird was slightly
smaller than a crow. It did not seem to perch straight up and down
like a buteo, but rather slightly forward. After checking my bird
books, my best guess is that it might have been a Merlin. Here's a
3:05 segment of the recording. Does it's call give any clues?
http://www.trackseventeen.com/soundblog/x090507c-pebble_beach.mp3
Some of the background sounds in this clip include a 2-3' surf hitting
rocks a couple hundred yards away, toward the right, and some gusty
winds in the surrounding cedar and pine trees. (Unfortunately, you can
also hear some wind disturbance in my mics.) And there might be some
rumble from a heavily used state highway about 1/4 mile back from the
lake.
Thank you in advance for any input on this!
Curt Olson
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