No changes like that in our area at all. It's a rural area with little deve=
lopment. I'd definitely know it if any logging had taken place.
One thing I have noticed is that we have resident catbirds who always nest =
in the same place. That pair is here, I see them every day, but I have not =
heard him sing once. In previous years, he has been the dominant singer aro=
und our house. Why would the birds be present but not singing? I only know =
this is true of this catbird, but could it be true of many birds? Are there=
any ornithologists on this list who would know?
One correction: the recording clips are from around 5:00 am EDT, not 6:00 a=
m. I was trying to sort out whether my time stamps from last year represent=
ed standard time or daylight time and got confused. I have set all my recor=
ders to standard time (I think of it as solar time) and hope they do not au=
tomatically switch back an hour in the fall.
John
--- In Sudipto Roy <> wro=
te:
>
> This is certainly very noticeable. Could you find any apparent reason lik=
e logging nearby or new construction in the locality etc?
> Sudipto
> --------------------------------------------
> On Fri, 6/21/13, John Crockett <> wrote:
>
> Subject: [Nature Recordists] Solstice Chorus
> To:
> Date: Friday, June 21, 2013, 10:28 PM
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> I have been noticing all spring that the number of
> singing birds in our vicinity has been dramatically down
> this year compared to previous years. I don't know if
> this is true for the area in general or just around our
> house, but the absence of many of our regular singers
> (especially veerys and wood thrushes) has been conspicuous.
> I've been waiting for the solstice to document it,
> because I started last year to record the dawn chorus on the
> morning of the solstice.
>
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>
> I posted a 1-minute clip on soundcloud with the result.
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> http://snd.sc/125LGYo
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> The first 30 seconds is from last year, and the second 30
> seconds from this morning. I recorded for three hours both
> years. These clips both come from approximately 6:00 am EDT.
> The chorus usually begins around 4:15 and ends by 7:00. I
> chose these clips in part because they are not masked by one
> bird vocalizing very close to the microphones. Last year a
> catbird and this year a robin drowned out large segments of
> the recording.
>
>
>
> Both clips were recorded using a home-built boundary array
> based on EM172 capsules. The 2012 clip was recorded on a
> Sony MZRH1 minidisc recorder and the 2013 clip on an Olympus
> LS-11. I usually run the LS-11 on low sensitivity, and the
> MZRH1 on high sensitivity, so I have raised the level of the
> second recording to make them roughly comparable, probably
> within a dB or two. The location and orientation of the
> microphones is the same both years. The hiss is not
> microphone noise but two streams that run through the
> property.
>
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> I am really puzzled by this decrease in singing bird
> activity this year and wonder if others are experiencing the
> same thing.
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>
> John
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> John Crockett
>
> Westminster, Vermont
>
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