At 2:15 AM +0000 10/8/09, Steve wrote:
> <snip>
>I, too, would be delighted to hear what other people are trying to
>accomplish this fall...
>
>Steve P
Of course, there's a northern hemisphere bias to this being "Fall." ;-)
I'm very lucky in that I've been able to monitor the Fall changes
daily. If I had to venture out here in the upper midwest this time of
year to do a few days of recording I'd consider that the coyotes are
vocalizing a lot as the young ones learn to hunt, start to disperse
and winter hunting territories are being debated. Prime times are
typically 7-11 pm and then 2-4 am around here. Owls are teaching
their young to hunt and there seems to be more conversation. They're
also having more heated interactions, possibly over hunting grounds.
The "dawn chorus" shrinks to nothing in the early Fall as long as it
stays warm at night and the insects are singing strong. But after a
few, cool nights in the 30's & low 40's, the birds that winter-over
become quite vocal through the morning for some reason. This
coincides with the on-set of leaf fall. I was out of town for three
days when the winds had been strong. When I returned and resumed
monitoring I was immediately struck by how much the acoustic space
had "opened up" with the loss of only 20%-30% of the leaves. Of
course, wind usually reduces animal vocalizing and can mask other
events to a great degree. Wind forecasts here in the US seem to have
gotten quite good so one might want to consider these before
setting-out. A very slight breeze will go along way in establishing
the seasonal mood. Activities at wetlands will increase soon with
migrating water fowl. Rob D.
--
|