Hi Curt,
Nice stuff as usual. I visited Split Rock Lighthouse a few years back and d=
escended the long set of stairs south towards the shore. It was November an=
d windy and cold, and I did not do any recording. I did do a lot of listeni=
ng - heard some memorable wave sounds along the shore by Gooseberry falls.
Your bird sounds a lot like the merlin recording at Cornell's allaboutbirds=
.org site.
John Hartog
--- In Curt Olson <> wrote:
>
> 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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