Thanks all, always appreciate positive comments;-)
Have to say that I doubt the birds would worry about the recording quality
though.
I recorded a Great Reed Warbler near Darwin many years ago on a micro-cassette
recorder that I could hardly hear on playback. While struggling to hear the
call, it certainly didn't worry the bird which popped straight up! Some of my
night bird calls have more ambient noise than you care to imagine and it
doesn't stop them either!
I'll certainly try it on the iPhone too.
BTW last week we heard an owlet nightjar calling during the day (as they do)
and I didn't have my iPod or any calls with me. So on to the web on the iPhone,
google 'owlet nightjar', find a call, play it and there it was calling back
from the hollow. Took about ten minutes;-)
Alan
On 18/08/2010, at 14:25 , Peter Shute wrote:
I agree, and it has increased my desire to get some recording equipment. The
article about recording using a digital camera is valid, but the resulting
recordings are usually swamped by ambient noise because the built in
microphones aren't unidirectional. I've found that unless I'm close, I can pick
out the faint call on the recording, but others can't.
The comment about protecting hearing didn't sound right to me. She specifically
mentioned the squealing of bus or train brakes. Unless they're a lot noisier
over there, I don't see how this would have that much effect on passersby.
I don't know if cells can regenerate, but that doesn't sound right either. It
might be that this is really just a case of someone becoming aware of sounds
they ignored before. After 4 years of birding, I'm constantly amazed at the
"new" calls I hear, yet when I investigate, it's the call of a species I must
have heard regularly that whole time, but ignored.
I do wish I'd be more diligent wearing ear muffs when using an angle grinder
years ago, it's hard to imagine that didn't have an effect on my hearing,
although it seems ok compared to other birders my age.
Peter Shute
wrote on :
> what a fantastic resource, thanks Alan. For those interested,
> as Alan mentioned, it goes through how to read spectrograms
> and also how to edit bird recordings.
>
>
>
> It also has an interesting article on age-related hearing
> loss and bird sounds, which is something which inevitably
> affects all of us (the cells in the cochlear which pick up
> the top end of the frequency range die off as we age). The
> comment by Kathleen Sweadner was interesting - she is
> protecting her hearing, particularly from high frequency loud
> noise, and believes that this has not only preserved her
> hearing but actually improved it, citing plasticity of brain
> cells. Does anyone know anything about this? I studied
> auditory verbal therapy as part of a course once - the idea
> is that children with severe hearing loss who are given
> cochlear implants or powerful hearing aids can be taught to
> hear (and speak) by increasing their listening skills. I
> think birders do this to an extent anyway - we often hear a
> bird when a non-birder doesn't. It's all about attention to
> sounds. But can the cells in the cochlear actually
> regenerate? They are not brain cells, but perhaps the links
> to the existing functioning cells are strengthened? Anyone
> have any ideas or even knowledge about this? It's a good idea
> to protect your hearing anyway - it's so useful! Ear plugs
> attenuate approximately 20 dB I think across the whole
> frequency range (don't quote me on that though).
>
>
>
> cheers,
>
> Arwen
>
>
>
> .........................................
> Arwen Blackwood Ximenes
> Lawson, Blue Mountains, NSW
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> From:
>> Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:15:55 +1000
>> To:
>> Subject: [Birding-Aus] "a little bit of bread and no cheese"!
>>
>> Most of us know and love http://www.xeno-canto.org for bird
> sounds but I thought many may not know of this gem:
>>
>> http://earbirding.com/blog/
>>
>> Some terrific sections on how to read and interpret sounds,
> a glossary of terms and an interesting past post or two such
> as: The Microphone You Already Own By Nathan Pieplow. Other
> sections provide links for other bird sound sites, etc.
>>
>> Well worth bookmarking and a considerable advance on such
> lines as "a little bit of bread and no cheese"!
>>
>> Enjoy,
>>
>> Alan
>>
>>
>>
> **************************************************************
> *****************
>> Alan McBride, MBO.
>>
>> Photojournalist | Writer | Traveller | +
>> Member: Australian Photographic Society
>> International Travel Writers & Photographers Alliance
>> National Association of Independent Writers & Editors
>> American Writers & Artists Inc.
>> Travelwriters . com
>> Travcom New Zealand
>> Regional Representative Australia: Neotropical Bird Club
>>
>> http://web.me.com/amcbride1
>> http://www.worldreviewer.com/member/alanmcbride/
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/alanmcbride
>> http://www.twitter.com/alanmcbride
>>
>> Good planets are hard to find; until we do, please, be green and
>> read from the screen
>>
>> Tel: + 61 419 414 860
>> Fax: + 61 2 9973 2306
>> Skype: mcbird101
>>
>> P O Box 190 | Newport Beach | NSW 2106 | Australia
>>
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